Dreams
by Iceani
Summary: I need at least 10 reviews per chapter before I upload a new one. Feed the Review-a-saurus.
1. Joan

Listen. This is my first thing that I have ever published on my own. There are some things that I tell anyone before they read a story of mine. If the grammar is incorrect, it is supposed to be that way. I write things as if I were saying them alloud. So there are fragments, and run on's. But hey! Who gives?! Not me. I don't have to think until I go back to school in August. 

Disclamer: I own nothing. I am a poor college student. I have no money. Don't hate me. 

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I. Joan 

_Turn._

_Running. Always running. Fighting._

_"Why won't you help me?!"_

_Trying to break down the door. To get in._

_To kill._

_"I have served you. Faithfully! Please, help me!"_

_Pounding on the old building. She knows it will not hold much longer. The villagers accusations of Witchcraft. They don't understand._

_The stone stays silent._

_She had saved them. Led armies to free them. In return, they will give her death._

_The door breaks. The men of the village pour through. The torch light dancing and creating shadows on the wall._

_Toss._

_"Please! I beg you!"_

_The yells of the townsfolk engulfs her hearing. A witch. Heathen. Spawn of the Devil._

_The clergyman begins to speak the Last Rights._

_How did the priest get the blade? She had it only a moment ago._

_"Why have you abandoned me!"_

_Fire._

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini practically jumped out of her bed. Her breathing is labored, she is drenched in sweat, and freezing. She no longer bothers counting the number of nightmares she has had since she had possessed the Witchblade. 

3:45 AM. 

At least she got a little over three hours this time. Still not enough. Never enough. 

"Who needs to sleep anyways?" 

Obviously she does. 

3:46 AM. 

"Might as well try." 

She finally fell asleep, and into another nightmare. Unaware of the figure in black on the roof of the building across from her. Watching her sleep. 


	2. The Long Ships

II. The Long Ships 

"The victim was found early this morning. The paper-boy felt something fall on his face. He looked up and saw the body . . . what was left of it. He ran and called us. The initial search of the house turned up two other bodies. Both in pretty much the same condition. We haven't gotten to the basement yet. Have you, uh, have you . . . seen them yet McCartey?" 

"No. But everyone looks freaked. That bad?" 

"Yeah. Inside's the worst. They've been there awhile. I'd hold your breath." 

"Thanks, man. Just waiting for my partner. Oh, wait. Is the, uh, paper-boy here?" 

"Yeah he's sitting in one of the squad cars. Listen, I gotta get back. We're starting on the basement." 

"Good luck." 

"Thanks." 

Detective Jake McCartey shivered in the cold morning. Nothing like the near constant warm weather in the west. He's still not quite used to it. But better to freeze than burn, in his opinion. 

"Cold. Cold. Cold." 

Should have brought coffee. 

"Where are you Pez?" 

This wasn't like her: to be late. With how she's been going, he wouldn't have been too surprised to see here before they had even gotten the call this morning. Something was up. He didn't know what, but he meant to find out. Soon, if he had his way. He had been teamed up with Sara at his request to Joe Siri almost three months ago. After Danny Woo was taken out. He wouldn't tell another soul that one of his reasons was that he wanted to get a little closer to her. He did need a partner, that much was true. And he had admired Sara Pezzini from a distance for some time. When he asked to be teamed up, he was genuinely concerned for her. And they had both needed someone to cover their backs. Of course, he didn't find it too difficult to watch hers. And he wasn't disappointed with that kiss either. Were crushes a bad thing in police work? 

The sound of a motorcycle caught his attention. Jake walked to meet his partner half way, and noted her appearance as Sara removed her helmet. 

"Sorry I'm late, Jake. I-" 

"Are you Okay? You don't look too good." 

She answered him with a half smile and a nod of the head. 

"Have I missed anything?" 

"Nope. I haven't gone over to look yet. The tech guys says it pretty bad. Everyone looks pretty shook up. Three victims. One pinned under awning of the front porch. Two more inside. Those have been there for a bit. They recommend that we hold our breath." 

"Any witnesses?" 

"Just the kid that called it in. They've begun to canvass the neighborhood. Hopefully we'll turn something up." 

Pezzini and McCartey moved the yellow tape out of the way and made their way towards the house, stepping around the pool of frozen blood on the concrete steps, and looked up. 

"Holy god." Whispered McCartey, "Who did this?" 

An arm here. A leg there. Portions of the torso and head. Heart, lung, intestine. All stapled and tacked to the wooden roof. 

Red. A woman's scream for help in her ears. Silenced by the sound of metal on bone. Sara shook her head to clear it of the vision. They've been getting more intense, and with Dominique gone, there was only one other who can help her. 

"Let's go inside, Jake." 

"Sure. I wonder . . ." 

"What?" 

"Where the rest of him is?" 

Sara noded her head in agreement and followed him through the front door. The smell hit them as they walked into the bedroom. 

"Man that reeks." McCartey blurted out, and covered his nose with the front of his jacket. Sara placed her hand over her nose, and swallowed the bile that had risen to her throat. The photographer pushed through them with a clothes pin on his nose. "Good idea." 

As a homicide detective, Sara Pezzini has seen the worst part of human society first hand. The product of such minds are hardly something that is attractive to the eye. But this has to be one of the worst. 

Jake McCartey said nothing this time. 

The body lay in mostly decomposed pieces on the floor. It's skin, however, was spread out taunt, and hung from the ceiling by wire and hook. Almost like it was laid out to dry. 

"I- " 

Ringing Laughter and joyful singing. Ignored pleas for mercy. A creature's distorted face. 

Sara ran from the house, not bothering to look at the next victim. 

"Pez!" 

Jake followed her outside and around the house to the back. Away from the rest of the officers. She knelt in the snow, trying to wipe the vision from her mind. "Stop it. I can't take it." She whispered. 

"Stop, what?" 

Sara didn't see or hear Jake follow her. She turned her head to see his face inches away from hers. Worry written across his features. 

"I . . . I don't know." 

"We have to go back in there, Sara." 

"I know. I, um, I just . . ." 

"If you're not well, you should tell someone." 

"I'm- I'm not sick. I'm tired. I don't . . . sleep much anymore." 

He placed an arm around her, in a half hug. Some reassurance, hopefully. 

"Why not?" 

"We should get back to-" 

"Why not, Sara?" 

For the first time in her life, she failed to stare someone down. So much for intimidation. 

"Bad dreams." 

" . . . All right. We'll finish this later. Let's get some clothes pins, like the photo guy, and finish our job. Then we can get out of here. And back to the station where it's warm." 

"Wimp." 

Jake stood up, brushed the snow off his pants, and offered her his hand. "Let's get this over with." 

Sara let him help her up and they returned to the interior of the house. To see the third body. 

"Hey Smitty." 

"Yeah McCartey?" 

"Where's the third?" 

"Master bath. It's not as bad as the other two." 

"Thanks dude." 

Officer Smitty wandered away mumbling something about the word "dude". 

"You know what Pez?" 

"What Jake?" 

"I don't make fun of them when they say "youse guys" I think they should return the favor." 

"Maybe if you did, they'd stop." 

"Perhaps." 

Like the rest of the house, the master bedroom was devoid of furniture and the walls were bare. The only color in the house was the dirty beige carpet. When they neared the bathroom door, Sara silently prayed that there would be no vision. Clairvoyance wasn't not all it's cracked up to be. She braced herself and frowned at the look Jake gave her. She moved her head in an abrupt 'yes' and they entered the bathroom. The photographer left them saying something about never eating again. 

The body was whole this time, and bloated from being submerged in water. A young African male. No more than 25 years old stared at the Detectives from under the red water. A second smile added to him, in the form of the cut that had nearly severed his head. Only one other wound decorated that body. They body had been eviscerated. 

"There's no blood except in the tub. He's been moved. There would have been blood on the ceiling if his throat was slashed here." McCartey observed. Furiously writing down notes in his pad in an effort to get out quicker. 

"His stomach was cut here though, Jake. The rest of him is at the bottom of the bathtub." 

"Taking notes as fast as I can. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to clean this place up." 

Jake put his pad back into his pocket, and observed his partner for a moment. "Have you seen enough, Sara?" 

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go outside." 

"After you." 

He was going to find out what was wrong tonight. 

* * * * 

_The ships were coming. She could see their sails from the Library. Soon the General would arrive. How could she have been such a coward to run from the likes of him?_

_A man._

_Inferior._

_The Blade had told her as much. She could have beat him to his knees. Humiliated him in front of his Legions._

_But no. She had given into her human impulses and ran. No matter now. Her children were safe in India. Nothing else mattered. Not her lover, the Blade, or her death. The empire would go to them, and would soon become a Province of the Republic._

_She would take to noble way out. Killing herself would save her, and her people, the humiliation of seeing their Queen's capture. And she refused to be paraded along the Sacred Way in the Capitol in celebration of his victory. She still had her pride._

_There was still time. And preparations to be made._


	3. Pandora

III. Pandora 

"Pez? You there?" 

Jake's muffled voice came through her apartment door to greet her. What time was it? A quick glance informed her that it was half past two in the morning. It didn't bother her, she had been awake for thirty minutes now. 

While she walked to her door, she went over the dream. Not so much being a nightmare, but it still shook her: the Queen's resolve. 

"Jake, it's two thirty in the morning." 

"You said you don't sleep." 

"Come in," She sighed, "And it's too late for sarcastic humor." 

"I'll remember that next time." 

He seated himself on her couch and stared at the wall. Figuring out the best way to ask her. Sara took the place next to him, somewhat confused at his actions. 

"Jake-" 

"Who are you, Sara?" 

She knew what he was asking, but she wasn't too sure herself. 

"What?" 

"What are you, Sara?" 

"I have no idea what you're-" 

"Yes. You do." 

Her hand rubbed the garnet stone inbedded in the bracelet. No. She couldn't tell him. Not only would Jake classify her as a full blown loony, if he knew it would put his life at risk. Who knows what Irons would have Nottingham do. Besides, she didn't even know how to tell herself, let alone another person. 

"Sara," He turned her head to face him, "tell, me. Please." 

"I-I can't." 

"Yes you can." 

"You'll think I'm crazy." 

"Aren't we all. Sara, ever since the day you chased down Vespuci you've been . . . off. You know things about cases that you would have had to have been there to know. All the times you should have been killed, but came out with a few scratches instead. Kenneth Irons. The weapon. There's no place to hide a sword in your clothes, Sara. I'm worried about you. Tell me what's going on." 

He was more observant than the thought. 

"I don't know where to begin." 

"Most people find the beginning to be the best place." 

Maybe it would be easier with someone else knowing. 

"In the gun fight with Gallo's man, this bracelet found it's way on to my wrist. I didn't even notice it until I got home that day. I still don't quite know how I survived the blast, but this bracelet is the reason. The next morning I made a note to find out if it came from the display case. I was in the office with Danny looking at the photos of Maria, and I saw something. It was so real, like I was   
there. When we went to the hotel, it happened again. I thought that I was starting to lose it, but then other things happened." 

Why couldn't she keep the shake out of her voice? They're only words. 

"What other things?" 

"Nottingham following me. He was at the Rialto when Danny died. I didn't know who he was, but I asked him to help me and he refused. Instead he told me to use something called the Witchblade. He pointed out the bracelet. I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked away for a moment and he was gone. Then Gallo shot Danny, and then they tried to kill me. None of the bullets ever touched me. The bracelet changed." 

A brief moment of concentration, and the now familiar armored glove replaced the silver ornament. Jake's eyes widened, but he wasn't as surprised as Sara thought he would be. 

"It changes form: different kinds of blade weapons. That's where the sword wounds come from. It gives the wearer strength, speed, agility. Clairvoyance." 

"Is that what happened today? You saw something?" 

"You know, if I were you I'd have assigned myself to the insane category of your address book." 

"I'm not arguing with pieces of armor that appear out of thin air. If you're nuts, then I must be too. Because I see it. It's right there." 

She almost wanted to laugh, if she didn't feel like she was about to cry. Maybe he's just playing along, and he'll report her later. 

"Notingham works for Kenneth Irons. Irons wants to control the woman who wears it because he can't. He did that with Dominique Busher, but that didn't work out." 

"Why can't Irons use it?" 

"Supposedly only women can wear it. Any man who has tried has died or been permanently changed. The man who was working for Busher lost his arm to the Blade, and Kenneth Irons can only see small portions of what it sees. Leaving him in the dark. He sends Nottingham to keep an eye on me, and keep anyone who would help me away, or dead." 

A hand brushed a piece of hair out of Sara's face. She hadn't looked at Jake while she had spoken. He pulled her into a hug that she leaned into. 

"Thanks." 

"How can you believe me? It sounds so ridiculous." 

"You're being honest. You have proof, and it fills in a few things. And it's kind of hard to argue when you showed me." 

He continued to hold her. She was so tired. She couldn't help falling asleep. 

There were no dreams. 

* * * * 

The figure on the roof of the building neighboring Sara's moves to get a better look. He knew there was something special about this one. She must be the one the white-haired man was looking for. It would be harder to get to her than he had thought. He didn't know she was involved with the other person. Oh, well. It didn't really matter to him. Soon, she would be art. 


	4. Into The Woods

Thanks for the reviews. Keep it coming. It's polite to write after every time you read. When I see that someone reviewed me, I get all tingly. 

I own nothing. 

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IV. Into The Woods 

If anything, Kenneth Irons was a patient man. You had to be when you were him. But, for some unfathomable reason, that didn't seem to apply at the moment. 

"It is taking too long." 

As is the norm, Nottingham remained silent. 

"She should have come crawling to me for reprieve. She must be more strong willed that I thought." 

The platinum blonde slumped down in his over-sized leather chair. He let out a frustrated sigh. 

"I truly do not understand her. There must be some one else helping her." 

"Her partner." 

Irons looked at his ward, "Who? Ah, yes. Jake McCartey. The enamored surfer. He is quite taken with Ms. Pezzini, isn't he? Actually, he was here a few days ago: to deliver the check for the damages to the Rialto. I took him by the Witchblade Hall. The look in his face was quite amusing." 

"He knows." 

Few things have surprised Kenneth Irons in his life time, this has been added to the rather short list. He was glad to be seated. 

"He knows! Did he figure it out? I thought he was more dense than that." 

"She told him. Early this morning." 

"She . . . just told him? Like it was nothing?" 

"No. I believe in her mind she had no choice." 

"And he believed her?" 

"Sara showed him the Witchblade. I did not stay to hear the rest." 

"We will have to see where this turn leads us." 

He resumed pacing his study. 

* * * * 

"Please don't do this! I'll do anything! Don't hurt me, please!" 

"Pain is part of existence." 

"Please, no . . ." 

"Don't you want to be art? Be free of the mortal world? To go beyond? To meet the others?" 

"Please, let me go!" 

"You have been chosen. Don't you see? To go and meet God. You should feel honored." 

"No, just let me go!" 

"I can't do that. You are one of the few. You see what the rest of this pathetic planet can't. You're special. And pain brings even more clarity." 

The scream echoed off the walls. 

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini was entirely too comfortable. This was the first time in months she had gotten a decent nights sleep. There were no dreams to plague her. Or perhaps they were memories. She didn't want to think about it at right now. Only one thing was on her mind: this wasn't her bed, and pillows don't have heart beats. Sara opened her eyes to find herself half sleeping on her partner. It didn't seem strange for some reason. She only wondered how they could both fit on her couch like this. 

He was a good pillow. 

The nice, hazy feeling of having slept a full night was broken by the loud ringing of the alarm clock. 

"Cut the noise. I'm up." 

"Machine. Don't know voices." 

She laughed at Jake's mumbled comment, and moved to get up. 

"Just throw something at it, Sara." 

The ringing stopped after the correct button was pushed. Damn noisy thing. Probably humankind's most annoying invention. At least ringing was better than that buzzing thing her last clock did. She turned around to see Jake sitting up right, and vehemently cursing mornings. 

"Do you want anything to eat?" 

"Nah. I'll swipe something at the station." 

Strange. She thought it would be awkward now that he knew. It didn't feel any different. He stretched and made his way over to lean on the kitchen counter beside her. 

"How are you?" 

"Fine. That's the first time I've slept more than three hours. It did me some good." 

"Good. Listen, I keep an overnight bag in my car in case I don't make it home. Can I, uh, borrow your shower?" 

"You better not use all the hot water." 

"I won't." 

Jake left her to her cereal and her other guest. 

"So, you got a thing for McCartey?" 

Danny was back. 

"A thing?" 

"You know: a thing. On some subconscious level, you like him." 

"He's a nice guy." 

"Oh come on. You just slept with him." 

"Not like that!" 

"Ooooo. Defensive. You think he's hot." 

She laughed at the banter. Even though he was still around, she missed him. And Sara knew better. If Danny showed up there was another reason. 

"No reply. You're guilty, Pez." 

"Why are you really here, Danny?" 

"Always could figure me out, couldn't you?" 

A nod. 

"Remeber those windows of perception that we talked about, Pez." 

"Okay?" 

"Okay, what?" 

Danny was gone. 

"Nothing, Jake. Bathroom is that way." 

Jake kneeled down next to her, "You all right?" 

"Yeah. Just thought I saw something." 

* * * * 

Jonnie was labeled as no good from the first day of school. Nothing but trouble. That's what all of his teachers called him. So did his father. 

"Who needs them?" 

So, Jonnie had given them what they expected. You name it he had done it. He had a trail of misdemeanors behind him. Breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, and so on. Last year, though, he did a job for some guy. Held up a grocery store. Got away with it too, but that was small time. No, LSD was the way to go. It was good money, and it made him see things. Those stupid law makers didn't know what they were missing. 

If Jonnie hadn't had been so screwed up, he might have seen the other person in the alley. Waiting for him to come by, like he did every time he got a fix from the boss. 

Jonnie didn't see the knife come down on his back either. Blood pooled around Jonnie's body as his attacker broke into hysterics. 

"No! Nononononono! Not the right one! Not the right one! Unworthy!" 

He stabbed Jonnie again. 

"No! No! How dare you!!" 

He left Jonnie there, and staggered away rapidly muttering 'not the right one' and 'unworthy' over and over again. He would wait for the right one. Yes. Yes, there was still time. He would wait. 

* * * * 

"Hey, Pez, get this. The coroner had the entire underside of the porch roof taken down. I guess that was the only way to get the body down." 

"They took part of the ceiling with the other guy too." 

The walls of the small office were nearly covered with the crime scene photos. One wall for each body, and the other for any that didn't fit into the other three categories. It had taken all morning to put them up, and most of the afternoon to go through reports and statements. They were down too reading the coroner's reports now. The last thing from a very large pile that had been waiting for them upon their arrival. 

"That's it." Jake slammed the folder shut. "The words were starting to blur together." 

"I know what you mean, Jake." 

"I-" 

A knock on the door interrupts McCartey's sentence, and Officer Leeds stuck his head in. 

"Hey you two. A garbage crew found some kid in an alley. Multiple stab wounds. You guys take it?" 

Sara looks at her partner, "Well?" 

"It gets us out of here. Sure thing Leeds." 

* * * * 

"It's trash day. We was picking it up when Joey found the kid." 

"And what time was this?" 

"At about three, Detective McCutty." 

"McCartey." 

"Sorry." 

There was someone watching them. Sara could feel it. She used her hand to cover the soft red glow that the stone gave off. The Witchblade knew too. 

The Kid, Jon Zumbrota according to his ID, had been dead for a few hours. It wasn't hard too see what killed him. The contents of his veins were spilled across the pavement. Why, was the bigger question. All of his money was still there. So was the ziploc bag full of narcotics. So, nix on robbery. Probably mistaken identity. 

A sigh of frustration. Were was that feeling coming from? 

* * * * 

It was her again. Oh, it made his heart sing to be near her. She was so strong. He was sure of it now. This Detective Pezzini was the one the white-haired man wanted. She was the one he wanted. He could do such great things with her, but he had to go. That nice lady he had sent on this morning was waiting, and there was that other teen he had found. He was strong too. It would be hard to take him. 

* * * * 

_They were all gone. Her warrior women._

_She knew what had happened. She fell for their trap. Those repulsive half man, half beast creatures from across the river._

_Disgusting really. How they lived. But now there were more of them._

_The funeral pyres burned brightly. Lighting the way for her sister's souls. She was their leader. Revenge would be hers._

_The man-beasts did not know the forests as well as she did. They dwelled in the plains. Ignorant of the advantage the woods gave their enemies._

_She had the tool to bring them to their end. The strange glove she found at the bottom of the lake seven moons ago. It would help her. It hated those animals just as much as she did._

_It was only a matter of time, then she would be the last thing that they saw:_

_Setting their entire camp ablaze._


	5. Water and Fire

V. Water and Fire 

That one was different from the others. All the previous dreams had been the end of the woman's life. After they had lost the Witchblade. This seemed more like the middle. A break in the pattern. Sara didn't understand it. Last night she had no problem sleeping, and tonight they had returned. Since she had told Jake, whenever she was around him the visions weren't as bad. And last night there were no dreams. 

She wasn't about to go over to his place and ask to borrow him every night. Not yet anyway. He was comfortable, though. 

"I need to stop thinking about this." 

The rain outside normally would have helped her sleep. It wasn't helping her now. Maybe Irons knew why the Witchblade wouldn't let her rest? No. She wouldn't call him. If she picked up the phone it would be to get pizza, or tell Jake to get over here. 

Maybe she could try tiring her mind out. 

Let's see. How were the triple homicide, boy in the alley, and the dreams all connected? Could the dreams be warning her about her end? Was she going to be connected to the other four murders? Why was there no blue food? 

Damn. That wasn't going to work. 

The phone looked tempting again. What number would her hand dial? 

Sara picked up the receiver and dialed. She wasn't sure of what number. 

Four rings. 

"Yeah," a sleepy voice came over the line. 

"Jake?" 

* * * * 

He was wrong about that one. The boy on the street wasn't like the others he had sent. 

The white-haired man wouldn't be pleased that he had chosen wrong, or would he? Perhaps he wouldn't care, he hadn't so far. 

The teen wasn't quite what he was looking for, but he was close. The kid was foreign; with pale eyes, he was special. He didn't look Japanese, but those thing were trivial. All that mattered was that this one was strong, so much stronger that the others that it made them look insignificant. The boy's mind was incredible. It was difficult to subdue him. He fought well, in mind and body. The teen knew what he was, and he had complete control. He had to be the one of the few the white-haired man was looking for. 

There was another, though. He had gone back to where he found the foreign boy, and there was another. Not quite as potent, but still . . . 

It made him shiver. He would have compared the feeling to sex, if he had any experience in the matter. 

He wasn't supposed to send the Japanese boy to be with the others. Was he? He didn't look like others he had seen: blonde hair and pale, violet eyes weren't normal features for an Asian. His eyes were angular, but not like the Japanese woman who he sent away months ago. Oh well, it didn't matter. The creature was his. There is more to him than his mind. 

The kid in the alley. He hadn't been wrong before. The little punk wasn't worthy . . . it must have been the drugs flowing through his body, and he had been fortunate. The Lady Detective was there to find the body. She was something. Her and the teen. They would please the white-haired man. He just had to get her away from that partner of hers. The last portion of the woman was put into place. He loved art so much, and now that nice lady was a part of it. He was sure she could appreciate it from her place in the next world. 

The rats began to feed. 

* * * * 

Some times it really amazed her how people's bodies were found. At five twelve this morning, Sara Pezzini was woken from her, now rare, sleep to come and see a murder victim that just _had_ to be connected to the triple homicide that she and Jake were working on. Jake's cell phone went off a few minutes after she had put down the phone. She tried not to make any noise. Who knows what would happen if some one found out they were 'sleeping' together. Granted, they weren't having any kind of intimate relations. But better safe than sorry. 

But the beat cop was right. 

This one went with the other three at the house. This guy had a thing for cutting people up. 

The woman was spread out around the I-beams of the over pass. The murderer had scalped her and nailed her hair to the pillar. The rest of her body was laid out in a symmetrical pattern. Like he was trying to draw a picture. 

The officers were still chasing away rats too. It was by shear luck that the body had been found. The highway cleaning crews only came by once a month. A volunteer had noticed the bags of trash that had been dumped over the wall, and came down to pick them up. His co-workers said that he fainted when he saw what was left of the woman. 

"We really need to find this guy, Pez." 

"The first forensic reports should be in when we get to the office. We'll have to start from there." 

A woman's scream echoed in her ears. A man's voice singing a corrupted version of a lullaby joined. Sara had to cover her ears as it got louder. 

"Pez?" 

It kept on getting louder. 

"Sara?" 

And stopped the second Jake McCartey's had touched her shoulder. 

"It stopped. I'm fine." 

"What did you see?" 

"Heard. Not saw. Just voices." 

He nodded his head and began to lead her towards the car. 

"Where are we going?" 

"They want to get everything they can. It's starting to rain. That means we go." 

"They can't tell us to leave. We've barely been here!" 

Water began to pour from the sky. 

"Shit!" 

Nearly every person at the scene began to scramble to gather what evidence they could. The coroner had already bagged the body, and the photographer rushed to finish off his roll of film. It was ordered chaos. 

It wouldn't stop raining for three more days. 

* * * * 

_It had chosen a strange way to punish her for her untruthful ways._

_But did the whole kingdom need to suffer for her mistake? The Gauntlet had shown the princess her fate. In numerous dreams that_   
_left her fearing the very word "sleep". Everyone would drown when the island nation sank._

_Her advisors told her that dreams had no structure in reality. But, they had come true before. And the ground tremors were getting worse every moment._

_A thousand years of history would vanish under the water. Utopia would be lost, because she was a "pretender" according to the Gauntlet._

_The ground shook again. This time it did not stop. Her wrist felt light. Where did it go?_

_The rest happened too fast. The land broke apart, and fire swept through the city. She felt weightless as the earth receded into the ocean._

_The princess was pulled down. No matter how much she swam she couldn't reach the surface._

_Salty water filled her lungs and she fell further into darkness._

_* * * *_

Sara's eyes flew open. She had fallen asleep at work? That's right. The storm had knocked the power out. No light, no phones, and no heat. The rain hadn't shown any signs of letting up either. The forensic reports had come to them electronically and there was currently no access to them. The hard copies would take longer to arrive. With nothing to do the rain must have put her too sleep. 

She had dreamt again. This one followed the pattern of the others. The one from last night seemed to be a fluke. What was that thing Jake had told her: "One is random, two is coincidence, and three is a trend." 

It was getting old, but no less tiring. For some reason the dreams drained her. Maybe Gabriel Bowman could find out why. 

"Hey Pez." 

"Jake. Where'd you go?" 

"To see if that courier who's bringing the reports over had gotten here." 

"Some how I doubt that he'll show up any time soon." 

Yawn. 

"Did you get enough sleep?" 

"I'm still catching up. I took a little nap while you were gone." 

"No problems?" 

"I had another one. This time she drowned when her island kingdom fell into the sea. Her punishment for lying to the Witchblade." 

"Ouch. A pretender?" 

"I guess." 

He set his flashlight upright, like a torch, and sat down in his seat across from her. Putting his feet up on his desk. 

"So what do we do now, tell ghost stories?" 

"We wait until the power comes back. We go over what we have. If there was enough light, study the photos some more." 

"Come on, Sara. There's barely anything except the pictures. No one saw anything. The neighbors thought the house was abandoned." 

"He wants to be found. The paper didn't even start going to that house until that day. And I'm betting our guy knew that the cleaning crews came by today. He's playing with us." 

"Or trying to tell us something." 

"That too." 

There had to be some connection between all the victims and herself. Why did everything have to be so cryptic? Didn't any one know what a straight answer was anymore? Danny, Nottingham, Irons, Dominique. Riddles. The visions were so vague there was almost no point to them. 

"What did you see at the house anyway?" 

"Huh? O-oh. There was red. Everything was blurry. I thought I made out the guy in the tub once. He was running. Um, there was metal and screaming. And singing." 

"Singing?" 

"I've heard it a few times. It sounds like a lullaby. I don't know what any of it means yet. Or what it has to do with me." 

"With you?" 

"Supposedly there is no randomness in my life now. Everything is connected." 

"Everything?" An nod, "Even me coming over?" Jake finished with a smirk on his face. 

Sara rolled her eyes at him, "Probably." 

"Well I didn't go over to the victim's homes for sleep overs." 

She laughed at his attempt at humor, and threw a pencil at him. 

"I should hope not . . . I wonder why I don't have the dreams when you're close by. And when you've touched me the visions stop. Anything you're not telling me?" 

"When I was a kid some mystic at a carnival couldn't tell me my future. Her little toys wouldn't work when I was around. I thought she was full of it, but maybe there was something to it." 

The lights flickered for a moment. They seemed to fight for a moment then came on completely. 

"It's about time." 

"Don't say anything, Jake. They might go out again." 

"Very funny." 

"I try to be. Let's see if we can get those forensic reports now." 

* * * * 

The Lady Detective had found his picture under the highway over pass. He really wished that those people wouldn't take apart what he had so carefully put together. But he couldn't be mad at the police. They were doing their jobs. Like he was doing his job. The white-haired man was happy when he told him that he was in possession of the foreign teen. 

The white-haired man knew who the boy was. Seiji was his name, and he wasn't a seer like the others were. He was something called a tele - a telepa something. Seiji could read minds and talk to people without speaking. And the white-haired man said that Seiji could move things with his mind too. But the words were too big and complicated. He could never remember them. It didn't matter. A lot of things didn't matter. He knew what mattered now. 

He had to get the Lady Detective. The white-haired man told him that she was definitely one of the few. She even saw something while he was watching her. But that partner of hers. He was her opposite. He was like the girl in Atlanta that hurt him so badly. Her skin was so cold he burned himself when he grabed her arm. 

The Atlanta girl was strong, she was like Seiji. How she fought, not her mind. He still had scars from where she punched him. But she was the negation. Negation was a word he knew. One of the few big words that mattered. The seers powers didn't work around her. Just like the Lady Detective's partner. He dulled her senses. People like the Partner and the Atlanta girl were common. But few were so powerful. A fortune teller once said that those people had clear auras. He understood those kinds of things. 

The people he had sent on, their auras were so bright and pretty. But the Negations had no color. Reality seemed to bend around them. It must be some thing to do with having no color. 

He was staring at Seiji now. He was so much brighter than the others, and he liked the color green too. The boy must be someone important. He was glad that he didn't send Seiji on now. It was too bad that he had to use so many things to keep Seiji subdued. He would love to talk with him. Like right now. Seiji was glaring at him. He looked angry. 

"Don't worry. The white-haired man said not to send you to meet the others." 

"I'm not honored." Seiji spoke in perfect english. It surprised him. That, Seiji had no accent. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" 

"I'm helping people, and getting rid of the unworthy ones." 

"You're hurting people." 

"You don't understand." 

"Yes I do. You think that I've been sitting here for the fun of it. You know what I am. You may have me drugged up to the point that I can't call for help. But I've been learning about you." 

"What did you learn?" He was happy. He loved to learn things. 

"I-," the drugs were kicking in, "The Atlanta girl. The rain." 

"She was mean to me. And she is a Negation. I don't like her that much." 

"She doesn't like you either." 

"Are you two friends. I have lots of friends." 

"Yes," It was getting harder for Seiji to think, "She knows about . . . about you. Where I am. Sh-she'll come looking." 

"No She won't!!" He stood up an yelled, "No one knows where we are!" 

"She'll kill you if I don't. You're insane." 

"NO! No no nono! You don't understand! The Atlanta girl doesn't understand! I'm helping people! I don't want to talk to you any more!" 

The drugs fully kicked in and Seiji was knocked out. It was a good thing. He didn't want to talk to him right now. He had seen that little girl in the park. She was so young, but she was like the Lady Detective. She needed his help now. 


	6. Orestes

Note: I am a Ronin Warrior/ Yoriden Samurai Troopers fan. If you know of them, you've noticed that I used a character. **_This will NOT be a cross over._** I'm just using one of the characters, because he's my fav. And I wrote another one with three other people that hasn't, and won't be, been put on the net yet (rhyme!). I am going to use two characters out of the story. They are original. 

Don't worry. I 'm not going to devote huge chapters to introducing them. That would take away from the story, and burn me out. I'm going to give, those of you who don't know what it is, a very short intro to what it is. Even though, I won't bring it in for a long while. I'm getting it out of the way. 

Yoriden = Legend of the Mystical armor 

Story: Five teens. Each have a mystical armor (yori) that represents an element. Four main bad guys: Warlords/Mashao. Each of them have an armor that represents a season. All of them are personifications of a virtue. 

Character I use = Date Seiji - Halo/Korin. Element = light. Virtue = Courtesy/Wisdom. Traits = in the both versions it is hinted that he has some mental abilities. 

What I did: Initially 9 armors. Five elements, four seasons. We/I took the Korin armor and split in in two. One half is Halo the other is Sirous (think of the cloud, but spelled wrong). Nest thing: in the past. Power got skimmed off of the other armors to make a new one. Only female. Iceani - I know. I used the character's name as a pen name. Only little facts (like birth place, date, and part of my real name) were used to create her.

Sirous and Iceani are more forces of nature than elements and seasons. Sirous' abilities are based off of the weather, and Iceani is what her name says: Ice and some other weird thing like using the other Yoriden's powers because she's based off of all of them. Two temperaments (something you vow to live your life by): Sirous = respect. Iceani = truth. 

**_****** There I have wasted time. And confused the hell out of people. I just thought I should give some background since I was using a character. But like I said. This is not a crossover. I think that would make my head hurt. There will be no reference to the YST/ RW story line. I'm using one guy because he fits in with what "he" is doing. The preceding use of space was so that some body doesn't go "huh?" You won't even see the portion that I'm talking about for a while. (I have an outline!! Yay me!!! *****_**

Sorry to waste reading time. If you skipped over, though . . . I don't know what I'll do. You can have time-out for being naughty. 

On with the stuff that actually matters. 

Forgive me for getting ahead of myself. I own nothing.   
********************************************************************************************************************************************************** 

VI. Orestes 

Jake McCartey was anything but ignorant. He was very intelligent. He had made it to homicide, he had done some other things that made homicide look like a cake walk. But he wasn't at liberty to talk about that. With anyone. 

But he was of the male persuasion, and sometimes being over run with testosterone didn't help much. 

He couldn't figure it out. 

Here he was. With his partner. In his bed. It also didn't help that she was very attractive. It really didn't help that he had it in for her. Bad. 

And it completely and totally sucked. 

Mainly because he knew that Sara Pezzini had a very high probability of never thinking of him in that capacity. 

Ever. 

It didn't help that she was in his bed, either. Or did he already think that? 

Damn. 

He glanced down at the mass of dark brown hair resting on his chest and sighed. He couldn't figure it out. The past week he had gone right to sleep with her next to him. The first time was by accident. When she called him the night after, he put on his jacket and drove over. After she had shut the door behind him, he dropped his bag and collapsed on her bed. He still was missing the part of his memory that told him how he had gotten from the door to the bed. After that it was an understood thing. 

He hadn't had a problem sleeping until now. It wasn't that they were at his place. They had alternated apartments for over a week now. 

It must be the case. There had been no more "pictures" found around the city. The forensics report from the house had told them next to nothing, and most of the evidence had been washed away under the highway when it started to rain. He hadn't seen it rain like that in a long time. And that wasn't a even "real" storm, not in the normal way that they formed anyway. It had been made by a very, very angry high school sophomore. 

None of the bodies had been identified yet. Just . . . nothing. It pissed him off. He was used to results. Not the other way around. 

And because of it he was wide awake. 

"At least you're getting some sleep." He whispered to Sara. 

It wasn't just that though. There was something else. 

Yeah. That was it. Being on the NYPD, he had neglected a few skills to work on others. He used to always know when he was being watched. 

Jake slipped out from under Sara, and put on his sneakers and a shirt. He also grabbed his gun. Actually, he thought it was kind of funny. There were no windows in his bedroom. So they weren't really being looked in on, but there was still someone outside. 

* * * * 

Ian Nottingham was rarely confused. As far as he knew, Sara Pezzini and Jake McCartey weren't romantically involved. But yet, they were sleeping with each other. He must have missed something. 

The two detectives had gone back and forth between their respective homes. He didn't like McCartey's place. He wasn't able to keep a constant eye on Sara like he was supposed to. 

"Nice night, don't you think?" 

Nottingham spun around to the sight of Jake McCartey aiming a gun at his head. How did he-? He never saw him cross the street, nor did he hear him walk across the roof. 

Nottingham decided he didn't like Jake McCartey very much at the moment. 

"Surprised, Nottingham?" 

He lifted an eyebrow. 

"Why do you keep following her? I didn't know Irons was a voyeur." 

Nottingham kept silent. 

"Fine. Don't say anything. Just go wherever it is you go." 

Jake began to walk away. He couldn't help but say something. He wasn't perfect you know? 

"What are you two doing?" 

Jake turned back around, "You can talk." 

Nottingham gave him a look of exasperation, "Answer the question." 

"Answer mine." 

"I am doing what I am told." 

"I'm doing what she asked." 

"Somehow I doubt that sh-" 

"Do you, like, have the whole damn city bugged. I know you have the whole enhanced senses thing going for you, but I know you can't here what she never said out loud." 

"You speak the truth. It did not seem to fit her, is all." 

"Jealous?" 

Perhaps. He thought. 

"I figured," Jake started to leave again, "Oh, and, um, unless you or your employer have something useful to contribute, stay at home." 

He descended the stairs more noisily than he had entered, and was out of sight. It was true what McCartey said, he would not learn anything, probably for awhile. He would leave. 

Nottingham forgot to ask how McCartey had eluded his senses. 

* * * * 

He had gone back to the park to find the little girl. He had waited for such a long time, but the little girl never came back. It was really too bad. He really wanted to help her. It would have to wait for now. He would go back from time to time to see if she was there. Right now he had to worry about Seiji. For some reason the medicine he had given Seiji wasn't working anymore. 

It was confusing. 

The white-haired man told him that Seiji is a very strong person. His body must have found a way to fight off the medicine. So the white-haired man had given him something new. It worked very well. 

But he was still wary of Seiji. The threat he had made to him was very real. Seiji wouldn't hesitate to kill him, he knew it. It made him wonder just what kind of special person Seiji was. Another thing that bothered him was the rain. The moment Seiji had mentioned it, the rain pounded the earth for days. But Seiji was special, maybe he knew magic. And the girl from the South. Would she really come? How could she know? She was so far away from New York. Did Seiji tell her, in her head? 

He didn't like to worry, it made him sad. 

Seiji made him sad. It was too bad he couldn't send him on. It wasn't that he didn't mind having him there. Seiji was very pretty to look at. Even if he was a boy. The white-haired man had shown him a picture of Seiji from a few years ago. Since then he had changed. He cut his hair from the longish style, to a spiked thing. Not that it was an overly important fact. But the other style had hidden one of Seiji's eyes. This one didn't. And it was a little scary, it was like Seiji was looking right through him. He just wouldn't look at Seiji. 

He had to think. All this worrying was side tracking him. There were people had needed to help. He would keep an eye out for the little girl, and he would go to that building, the shiny one with all the sculptures. That old man reminded him of his grandfather. He had sent him on too. Grandpa was one of the first people he helped. This old man feed the birds every night when the sun went under the ground. 

That was soon. 

He needed to get ready. He knew the perfect place to put his new picture when he was done. 

* * * * 

Punch. 

"You know Pez, if you keep this up I might have to tell you two to set a date." 

"Shut-up, Danny." 

Punch. Kick. Punch. 

"Sorry, Pez. You know me. I see an opening I have to use it." 

"I know. You've been showing up with no cryptic message for me. For a while you were as bad as Nottingham and Irons. Or did I forget to ask." 

Sara had gone to the gym to work off some frustration. Ten minutes into her workout Danny showed up. He had been doing that a lot as of late. Only he seemed to just want to talk, and make fun of her, instead of trying to tell her some off the wall thing she needed to know or do. It was almost like he was still alive. 

"So, how's the after life?" 

"Good. Tuesday is free beer night. Ladies have no cover." 

"Funny." 

Sarcasm. 

"You know. Don't you, Danny?" 

"I know, what?" 

"About my case. You probably know everything that's been going on. I bet you even know who we're looking for. Want to give me a hint?" 

Kick. Punch. Punch. 

"You'd be surprised how little I know about anything, Pez." 

"So the Wise Asian Master admits ignorance?" 

"Partial ignorance. How much do you know about Greek Mythology?" 

"Mythology?" 

"Look into it. Ask McCartey." 

She turned around to face him. "Jake?" 

He was gone again. She hated when he did that. 

Greek Mythology this time, huh? It was such a narrow topic. It only spanned a couple thousand years. She'd ask Jake after taking a shower. 

* * * * 

"Hey, Pez. We got an ID on the body in the bathtub, and dental ID on the woman from the over pass." 

"When did that happen?" 

"It just came in. Right now they're only names and current addresses, but it's a start. The Black male is a one Anton Xanus. 28. He resides, sorry, resided at 1201 Clarion Court. He had just been discharged from the SEALS." 

"Nice." 

"The woman was Janet Fillamore. 33. She was on vacation here. She came all the way from Billings, Montana." 

"Anything else on her." 

"Yes and no. No in that now that we know two names, background checks have started. Yes in that they're trying to make this one a double homicide. She was three months pregnant." 

"Is there anything that connects the two yet?" 

"No. I'm going to see if I can get Xanus' records released from the Navy, but that might not happen." 

At least this was a starting point. It was a hell of a lot more than yesterday, and that wasn't saying a whole lot. Sara ran her hands through her hair, and held her head in her hands. This was so frustrating. If they ever solved this thing, she was taking her vacation. 

"May be if we go back to the house, we'll learn something new. Sara?" 

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. They've had it under guard right?" 

"Yeah. It still is. Want to go?" 

"Sure. Maybe something'll happen." 

* * * * 

The old man was so nice to help him. He didn't want to make the man hurt too much since he was old, so he sent him away quickly. He always got messy when he made his pictures. Seiji was awake when he got back, and he had broken two of his chains. So he put some new ones on. While he fixed Seiji's restraints, Seiji glared at him. He thought he heard Seiji growl at one point. 

He tried to explain to Seiji that he had only helped the old man, but Seiji would have none of it. Seiji insisted that what he was doing was wrong. Why didn't anyone understand? The white-haired man understood. He helped him. After Seiji's medicine kicked in he cleaned himself off. 

His pictures were pretty, but they could be so messy sometimes. This time he tried to put the picture in a place that the Lady Detective would find it. Maybe he could see her without her partner. He had gone back to her home to watch her, but wherever she went the Partner was with her. Didn't she know what he did to her? With the Partner around, she wouldn't see things like she was supposed to. He had watched anyway. He had to be careful, though. Sometimes there was another person watching her too. The man in black. Did the man in black help people too? Maybe he knew if the Lady Detective was one of the few he was looking for. But he was too scared to ask the man in black. The color black reminded him of his mother. 

She loved the color black. He learned about auras from her. His mother's was a pale blue. So pretty to look at. Just like his sister. He loved his sister so much. He had tried to show her, but she ran from him. That was when he first started helping people. He sent his mother before he sent his Grandpa. She made a pretty picture. He had tried to show his sister how much he loved her again, but she fought back. So he sent her on too. 

He missed them sometimes. 

But he had helped them all. Except his father. he wasn't worthy. Not one of the few, like his mother and sister. 

He got rid of him. He was messy. 

He didn't deserve a picture. 


	7. NON PARADISUM

Note: I was reading my little ficcy, I go back and check for errors and what not, and I noticed that the visual structure was messed up. I wrote this thing in Arial font. If you want to see it the way it is supposed to look you can select Arial as the font for fanfiction.net. I just noticed that some of the sentences were cut off and moved down after one or two words. 

Please review after each chapter you read and tell me what you think instead of whenever you finish. 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************   
VII. NON.PARADISUM 

Kenneth Irons had called her again. To come over a learn more about the Witchblade. Last time he did this it had everything to do with her case. Maybe history would repeat itself. Maybe not. Either way she would gain knowledge in some area. 

Jake didn't want her to go at all. Well, she didn't want to go either, but she was sucking it up. 

Sara entered the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor of the Vorshlage building. She didn't bother saying anything to the secretary anymore. The doors opened and Nottingham led her to Irons' office. 

"Good afternoon, Sara." 

Nottingham left the room. 

"What do you want Mr. Irons?" 

"You do know that they are memories, don't you? You shouldn't hide from them behind your partner. They will help you." 

"How do you . . .? You know. There is something in the world called privacy! Can't I go any where with out your boyfriend following me." 

"Ian does not follow you constantly. But really, you and Detective McCartey aren't . . ." 

"No. And if we were it would be none of your business." 

Sara Pezzini really didn't like this guy. Maybe he could tell her something though. 

"How did you know that I'm "hiding" behind Jake?" 

"You're partner was here sometime ago. To deliver the check fro the damages to the Rialto theater. I was very surprised, actually. I discovered something interesting. He is unusual in that certain objects like tarot card, Ouija boards, and other devices of the sort are useless in his presence. Typically people like him have no color to their auras. You have witnessed first hand the other property of his . . . type." 

"Is that rare?" 

"No. Actually it is fairly common. Not rare but not rampant. Though few are as potent as that. I believe that several of your uniformed officers are like Detective McCartey, but not as influential. In an odd way he is the opposite of what you are. There are some whose influence is much stronger, and physical touch is not required. Just being within several feet of them will do." 

"Why are you so forthcoming with this?" 

"Because you have the dreams for a reason." 

"I think you just want to drive me to the point that I take you up on your offer." 

"Now why would I do that?" 

"Because you're a power hungry ass-hole." 

Irons laughed and got out of his seat to walk over to her. 

"Don't come any closer." 

He stopped half way in between his desk and her. Staring at her. 

"Why did you ask me here?" 

"I have already told you." 

"You had me come all the way over here to tell me to not have Jake around." 

"Basically." 

"You don't run my life." 

"No. The Blade does. I know what it wants, Sara. The dreams will tell you if you listen. Haven't the visions helped you solve your cases? Don't you find them useful?" 

"Sometimes. Mostly they give me a headache, and wear me down. But I'll figure it out on my own. I don't need your help." 

Sara stalked out of Irons office. He continued to stand there and stare at the space she had just vacated. 

* * * * 

_He shouldn't have tried to utilize the weapon's powers. He knew, now, why he could never wear the Glove._

_It was slowly costing him his sanity._

_It had sat in a museum in the Capitol for centuries. With children and bards telling stories about how the ancient Queen had used it to ensnare the first of the Caesars. I was supposed to be rubbish._

_Bed time stories._

_The Emperor had never been so wrong in his life. The surgeons were blaming his condition on the lead from the pipes, but the mineral build up had not been compromised. There was no lead exposed in all of the palace._

_No, it was the Glove. It haunted him. Even after he had ripped it off of his wrist._

_No one understood. Not the Senate. Not his horse._

_Why did he put his horse in the Senate?_

_It was the Glove. The Blade was tearing his mind apart. How? How could it do this to him? He was a Caesar. Infallible._

_It whispered to him. Constantly. The voices never stopped._

_He could fly away._

_Yes there was the ledge._

_It would show them. All of them._

_He stood on the balcony ledge, and jumped._

* * * * 

Sara woke up just before the Emperor hit the ground. She checked to make sure she was still alive. She had almost gotten used to not having the dreams. 

Tonight Sara knew she would have to face them. Captain Dante was borrowing Jake for some all night reorganization of the hard files. The Captain was trying to tell them, in a very annoying way, that they needed to get to work. There was only one problem. There was nothing to work with. Jake had promised to come over if he lived through the experience. His comment had made her laugh. 

Sigh. 

A man's memory this time. A Caesar of Rome, huh? This thing really got around. 

Sara laid back down and stared at the ceiling. 

There had been nothing of interest at the house. The scene under the highway was gone. She hadn't had one useful vision. Danny hadn't been of any help. Oh, she had forgotten to ask Jake. 

The background checks on the two identified bodies might clear some things up. She hated waiting. 

Three knocks at the door broke Sara's train of thought. She opened the door to find her partner looking like he had been tossed around a bit. 

"What happened to you?" She shut the door behind him. 

"Would you believe that a shelf fell on me. Since it drew blood, Dante told me I could leave. For injury in the line of duty." 

"I didn't know he had a sense of humor." 

"It's a new thing." 

"And, uh, you had better not get dust on my bed." 

Jake rolled his eyes at her and headed to the bathroom to change and clean up. 

"Uh, Pez?" His muffled voice came through the door. 

"Yeah." 

"The check on the Fillamore woman came through," He stepped out of the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, "We'll have to wait longer for the other guy. Lot's of red tape with him." 

"Maybe they'll shock us." 

"Maybe." 

"Are you ok? You look like some thing's bothering you." 

"Are-are you ok with this?" 

"With what?" 

Jake shook his head, "You know what I mean." 

"I honestly don't know. I guess I didn't stop to think about it. But I appreciate it." 

"Sara, I-" 

The phone rang, cutting him off in mid sentence. 

"Hello . . . Yeah. He just got here . . . Where? . . . We'll be there." 

She hung up the phone and began to pick up her clothes. 

"What's going on?" 

"They've found another one." 

* * * * 

Ooooooo. She was here. The Lady Detective had come, like he had hoped. But the Partner was with her, too. He might have to take them both to get the Lady Detective. If he did that he could get rid of the Partner. He didn't like his type. How could people like him cancel out other people's sight? It was rude. 

He didn't like rude people. 

Maybe they would like his picture. 

He had seen what he wanted. He knew she would come, now. It was time for him to leave. 

* * * * 

The space between his shoulder blades burned. There was someone watching them again. 

Detective McCartey scanned the area. 

Damn. 

It was too dark to make out much of anything, and the feeling was gone now. He walked over to Sara, and tapped her on the shoulder. 

"Pez." 

"What is it?" 

"There was someone here." 

"Well someone had to be to put this here." 

"Not like that. I mean there someone was watching us. Whoever is gone now." 

"Do you think it could have been our guy?" 

"Could have been Nottingham again. I don't know." 

"Great." 

McCartey continued to canvass the immediate scene. It was difficult without day light, but sometimes a flashlight could do better. Like finding something reflective. 

"What's this? Hey! I need an evidence bag!" 

It was the old man's wallet. Poor guy. He had been twisted and broken into some ungodly position. When he first saw the body, Jake almost thought it was a doll or mannequin. Upon closer inspection, however . . . He shook his head. 

"Here you go, McCarty." 

"Thanks, man." 

Nothing was missing out of the leather wallet. Money, credit cards, bank card, it was all there. They had ID on the man, at least. Birth date March 3, 1928. Peter Thomas was 73 years old. 

He dropped the wallet into the plastic bag, and placed it with the others. 

This would throw the psych profile out the window. So far, all of the known victims had been fairly young. The eldest being about 44. The profile had been based around that trend. 

"Not anymore," He spoke under his breath. 

There didn't seem to be anything logical about the killings. Maybe it was time to start thinking out of the box. Perhaps the killer was completely off kilter. If he was insane, how would you catch a man whose motives would make no sense to any one but his own mind? 

He and Pezzini needed to find this guy. Fast. But it looked like it wasn't going to happen that way. 

Jake walked back to where the body was, and where Sara seemed to be staring into space. He considered putting his hand on her shoulder to knock her out of it, but he hesitated. 

She shook her head and took in a deep breath. Sara had seen something. 

"What is it?" 

"He thinks he's helping people." 

"Strange way of doing it. So . . . ?" 

"It was pretty much the same as the others, but his time I heard someone mumbling something about helping all of them." 

"Anything else?" 

"No." 

They watched the coroner take the body away, and the forensics team continued to gather evidence. 

"He wanted this one to be found, Sara. But some how I doubt that this is a cry for help." 

A nod of the head. 

"We have three ID's now. Maybe we can find a trend." 

"If we get everything on our victims." 

He hated the word "if". 

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini was not acting in the predicted fashion. She was more head strong than he initially thought. 

Kenneth Irons paced his study. Irritated. 

He had a notion, in the beginning, that she would accept his offers. But she didn't want power. 

Come to think of it, he didn't know what she wanted. He would spend hours staring at the newest painting in the Witchblade Hall, trying to decide what to do next. 

Irons hated unpredictability. That wasn't entirely true. He did enjoy a surprise now and then, but only if it was something in his favor. 

He was searching on two fronts now. For a way to reign in Sara Pezzini. Neither was going too well. 

He ran his fingers through his platinum white hair, and ceased his pacing. 

He could wait. He had waited since the 1800's, what did a little more time matter. 

* * * * 

Seiji didn't have a huge affection for the city of New York. Two out of the four times he had visited the Big Apple, he had ended up restrained. First that idiot scientist who found out that he was a telepath, and now this wacko. 

Wacko. He had spent too much time around his girlfriend. And yes, it was possible to do that. 

His body had developed an immunity to the first set of tranquilizers that the man had given him, but he found out and changed the prescription. 

Seiji was still mad at himself. For being caught. Granted, the man didn't appear as every other person. There was something seriously wrong with his mind. Seiji hadn't recognized him as a human, his mind read more like a canine. At least that was the closest thing that Seiji could come up with. The patterns weren't a perfect match, more like somewhere in between a child and an animal. 

He didn't bother to play along with the man. He wouldn't even tell him his name. Seiji wasn't to sure that he knew what his name was if he were to ask. 

The room began to spin again. The drugs were starting to kick in. He hoped he didn't become addicted. 

Right now he needed to figure out who a few people were. The man wanted the Lady Detective. He couldn't narrow that one down. He didn't know any women detectives. But the Partner was another story. Apparently the Lady Detective was a seer. He was going after people who are Clairvoyant. The Partner was a Negation to her, and the Lady Detective knew it. The man claimed that the Lady Detective was very strong, so the Partner had to be up there too. 

Seiji knew, personally, of about six or seven people of that caliber who were what the man called "Negations". He was dating one of them. But she was nearly 1800 miles south of here, and that was no where near New York. In fact, he knew of only one person who fit the description that currently lived in New York. 

Maybe if he . . . if he . . . 

Shit. 

The sedatives took full effect and Seiji passed out. 


	8. Espera

Reviews are like . . . Pez (not the character, the candy!!!!) You can never leave with out having more than one. Please review after each chapter you read, even if you tell me the whole thing sucks. I need feed back, You can go to my home page (slow goings) and email me from there. Anything. Ideas, comments, . . . credit card numbers. (Hey, I'm a college student.). 

When people see that their stories are being read by a lot of people, but then they don't review. It leaves a bad taste. It makes us not want to write anymore. And I know how many hits my story gets (and even though I don't know why, it makes me happy). 

REVIEW . . . . . . I own nothing 

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VIII. Espera 

The experts say it takes twenty-one days to break a habit. With Ian Nottingham, it took a bit longer. He had always been that way. As long as he could remember. As long as Kenneth Irons could remember. 

Ian didn't really know why it was like that. It simply was. Biting his nails had been the worst. But Irons get him to stop, some how. 

He was a man of ritual. There were things that he always did. Every day. At the same time. Following Sara Pezzini had become one of those habits. Irons had recently stepped down his observation of the detective. Ian still trailed Sara, just not as often. 

He kept on forgetting. No. His mind knew better, but his body was accustomed ot another. Irons had to call and remind him not to follow her home from work the past four days. Not that he missed anything. Sara's case was going no where. There was nothing to connect her victims together. Ian knew. Out of blatant curiosity, he had looked into it. He had found nothing. 

About the only interesting thing, work related, in her life was the little dance that the Navy was playing with the two detectives in regards to retrieving information on one of the victims. 

Ian thought it was hilarious. 

Tonight, however, he didn't feel much like laughing. Today was ordered to follow Sara Pezzini. 

So he had. And here he was. In his usual place across from her building. 

He decided that he didn't like this habit. 

They were at her place this time. Ian could keep a constant eye on her here. She didn't seem to learn to shut her blinds, did she? 

. . . . . . . . . . . sigh. 

McCartey had been right. On some level, he was jealous. 

He didn't like coming here anymore. He didn't like seeing the two of them together. 

Ian admired Sara Pezzini. She was strong, determined. He didn't have feelings for her, not like her partner did, but feeling nonetheless. He had spent hours meditating on the thought. 

He was jealous of normalcy. Well, as close to normal as one could get. But at the same time . . . Ian couldn't put it into words. 

Nottingham looked back at Sara's window, to see Jake McCartey glaring back at him. 

* * * * 

Neither of them could sleep. Too many things were going wrong, Jake mussed. There had been nothing else since the old man's body had been found. Nothing in the background check. What a surprise. 

The damn case had been open for nearly four weeks now. They had five bodies, no connections, and a pissed off Captain. Well, what was Dante going to do. Reassign the case. It was way too late for that. 

He and Sara had laid in bed and talked about what to do until she fell asleep. Jake, on the other hand, continued to stare at the ceiling. And proceeded to give himself a headache trying to figure something out. He finally let it go, and tried to convince his mind to follow Sara's example. That didn't seem to be going too well. 

Sleep wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So, he stared out the window. Stroking Sara's hair and thinking about absolutely nothing. That was until he noticed Sara's hired stalker. Jake really didn't want to move. He was comfortable here, and it was freezing outside. He settled for a glare. 

Nottingham seemed surprised that he had noticed him. Jake liked freaking the guy out. It was fun. They stared at each other for a moment. Ian nodded and left. Jake smiled. 

"Score two for me," He whispered. 

Exhaustion finally caught up with him. 

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini tried to absorb herself in the glossy photos lining the walls of her office. Maybe if she looked hard enough, she would find something that she had missed. That was her main reason for being so attentive. The second, was to try and drown out the argument between Jake McCartey and the person from the Navy SEAL personnel office on the other end of the phone line that was taking place behind her. 

"Oh, come on! . . . one of your men was killed by some psycho . . . don't you guys care about your own . . . I didn't say that! . . . so you don't want the killer to be caught? . . . like I said, we are trying to connect the victims together somehow . . . no they don't . . . you're not being a huge help at the moment . . . the feeling's mutual . . . do you all even know what was done to him? . . . you don't." 

Jake proceeded to go over, in great detail, everything he was allowed to say. Sara tried to tune him out and continued to stare at the pictures. There was a little problem with that; she wasn't really looking at them. More like beyond them. She couldn't seem to focus. 

"Oh . . . so _now_ you'll think about it . . . huh?" 

A long pause. 

"What do I need to do? . . . My name? . . . Jake McCartey . . . yes . . . no it's not . . . I've been given permission to do- . . . I'll be there." 

He hung up the phone and exhaled, "They really get on my nerves." 

"So, Jake, what's up?" 

"I'm going to North Carolina. Raleigh-Durham to be exact." 

Sara spun around and nearly tripped over her chair, "What?" 

He couldn't leave. 

Jake noticed the look on her face, and began to explain what was going on. 

"They won't give us any information on Xanus over the phone lines. They told me either I come to them and get it personally or we get nothing. The people on the other line said they wanted me since I've been the one 'talking' with them. I bet somewhere down there those guys are laughing their asses off." 

"Wh-when are you going to leave?" 

"Have to tell Captain Dante first. Then hop the first flight out of New York." 

"Oh." 

Jake got up to move in front of her and made her look him in the eye, "You'll take me to the airport?" 

"Of course." 

He nodded his head and left to find Captain Dante. Sara went back to staring at her wall. Jake wasn't hers to keep, she reasoned. Work and play didn't mix well. On occasion it did work well, but that was rare. 

Sara shook her head. She really needed to think. Yesterday she had caught herself preparing to glare at a female vice cop who was talking with Jake. Sara had turned around and headed for the woman's rest room, trying to ignore the burning sensation in her stomach. 

Maybe Danny was right and she hadn't admitted it to herself. 

She needed to concentrate on the photos. He couldn't leave, she needed him here . . . that was the problem. Perhaps she had become too dependent on him. What would happen when he decided he wanted his life back? 

Sara hadn't thought about that. 

* * * * 

He wanted to count. How many people had he sent on? One, five, fourteen, . . . he should have kept a list. He knew all their names, but he couldn't seem to remember how to count them all. It was too bad, really. It was only curiosity. He didn't need the number any how. He could ask Seiji to count for him while he repeated all the names, but Seiji was sleeping. The medicine tended to do that to him. The other day he realized that he should probably feed Seiji, but he seemed to be just fine. Seiji hadn't lost any weight, but the bright green glow of his aura had gotten even brighter. It was pretty. 

"Hmmmm. What to do? What to do?" 

He tapped the toes of his shoes together while he thought. 

He was supposed to wait. The white-haired man had told him to wait, but just because he wasn't helping people right now didn't mean that he couldn't do things. Once the white-haired man told him it was all right to start again he wouldn't have time to be bored. helping people was hard work. In fact, he already knew who he needed to help next. He had been gathering information. He knew that the little girl would be at the park again, soon. There was that couple that went to the food store every thursday. They were both seers and he could send them together. They would like that. And he had found the nice English man who worked at the outside restaurant. 

So may people to help. 

He hoped he could get to them all. 

He wanted to follow the Lady Detective, but it was hard. The Partner was always with her, and he seemed to know when people were looking at him for a long time. The Partner wasn't a seer. He wasn't like Seiji either. He must have been taught how to know when he was being watched. Where do you go to learn things like that. He didn't know. He did know other things. 

He knew that he didn't like the Partner. He would be happy to get rid of him. 

He liked to be happy. 

* * * * 

**"Delta flight 1020 to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina with connections to Miami, Florida will begin boarding in ten minutes."**

Jake sat next to Sara in the chairs that looked out the huge picture window. They watched the planes taxi down the runway in silence. There was next to no one in the airport. It was nearly four in the morning. Not exactly the most popular time to fly. Jake was one of fifteen on the flight out. 

"You'll be fine." 

"I'm not worried about anything, Jake." 

"Yes you are, Pez." 

A shrug, "Maybe." 

He struggled with his key ring for a moment, then handed her something, "Here. It's the key to my place. Maybe whatever it is about me that keeps the things in your head quite rubbed off on something there." 

"If that's the case, I might kick you out." 

"Ouch. The terrible break-up. Well then, I'd just take your place . . . and go through all your things." 

Sara laughed at him. 

**"All rows on Delta flight 1020 to Raleigh-Durham with connections to Miami may now board."**

"That's me. You have my cell number. I'm all alone so feel free to bug me . . . Plenty of room to stretch out too," he eyed her, "I don't get to do that very often these days." 

"I thought you enjoyed having company," She joked. 

"I do." 

Jake gave her a half smile and a quick hug, "Pick me up in three days." 

He left before she could respond. 

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I thank those who have taken the time to review my story. Thanks for all of the nice things you all said. I feel all tingly. (By the way, the title of this chapter is spanish - for those of you who wonder about such things.) 

I'm having problems with my web site. The comma, accent, and quote markings (",' ) keep coming out as question marks. But feel free to go there. 

One thing about the story. I had only read one or two of the actual comic books, my fake sister (long story) collects the comic so she know more than I do. After seeing the movie and pilot episode, I went online to find out more about Witchblade. Every site I went to said that Sara and Jake had feelings for each other. It made sense, so I went with it. 

To review is divine. To ignore is to burn forever in a fiery pit of brimstone with Richard Simmons. 


	9. Garden

XI. Garden 

"So. Detective McCartey has left our fair city. We should use this time wisely." 

Kenneth Irons rubbed the twin circle scars on his hand while he talked to his ward. He had wanted McCartey out of the way. With him gone he had time to work on Sara Pezzini. 

"Resume your normal watch while he is away." 

Ian Nottingham nodded. 

"I didn't realize that Sara's discovery of him would lead to so much trouble." 

"She is afraid of what the dreams are telling her." 

"And what do you think they tell her, Ian?" 

Nottingham raised his head slightly, "I believe that she thinks that the dreams are showing her how she will die." 

Irons nodded his head in agreement. 

"I believe that it is the exact opposite, but no one can truly know what it tells any one. Can they?" 

No answer. 

"I see. It is time for you to go." 

Ian left to do his duty. 

* * * * 

The white-haired man had told him it was all right to start helping people again. It made him happy. He loved to help people. He had told Seiji that it was time to start again, but Seiji wasn't happy. He wondered how to make Seiji happy. 

"What makes you happy?" 

"What?" 

Seiji was still sleepy from the medicine. He asked again. 

"What makes you happy?" 

"My friends . . . your head on a spike wouldn't hurt too much." 

"It's good that you're friends make you happy. I like having friends. But I don't think my head would make you happy." 

"Yes it would." 

It must have been some kind of joke. He didn't quite get it, though. 

"Do you have a name?" 

"Me? Everyone has a name." 

"You know mine," Seiji shook his head, "I think it only fair that I know yours." 

"The white-haired man told me not to tell you." 

"Whatever." 

It was time to go. It was Thursday, and that couple would be at the food store. He was going to be able to make a big picture with the two of them. Where should he put it? Ohhh. He knew the perfect place to put his new picture. There was that old factory near the river. It had all those old adds painted on the side of the brick. He could make a really pretty picture there. The couple would really like it after he had sent them on. He was sure of it. 

He was about leave when Seiji said something. 

"Why do you think you're helping people?" 

He turned around. Maybe Seiji was ready to learn. 

"I need to send the seers on. To the better place. You know." 

"I don't. What about the people who aren't seers?" 

"They aren't worthy. I just get rid of them. And I get rid of the Negations." 

"Have you considered that the seers don't want help? And perhaps they want the Negations around?" 

"The white-haired man says that they don't know that they need help, and the Negations don't always know that they do bad things to the seers. I help the seers anyway, and I make sure that the Negations don't do bad things." 

"You'll get caught one day, and the police won't understand." 

"Do you understand, Seiji?" 

"No. I don't think I ever will." 

He shrugged his shoulders and began to leave again. He stopped and turned around. 

"I really don't like the Negations who know what they are. They need to be punished. Like the Atlanta girl and the Partner. You said you know the Atlanta girl. She hurt me. I don't like her. How do you know she will come?" 

"She is my sister in arms, and my girlfriend. She is supposed to come to New York to meet with me this month." 

She was going to come! He needed to tell the white-haired man. He would do it as soon as he had sent the couple from the food store to the others. 

Seiji didn't bother to tell him that he had a damn good idea who the Partner was. 

* * * * 

After Jake's flight had taken off, Sara Pezzini had returned to the office. She was going to try and stay awake until he got back . . . 

"Listen to myself. Next thing you know I'll faint whenever something scares me." Sara scolded herself. She was supposed to be the tough one. How could she be afraid of some silly dreams? 

Some of them were very frightening. Others ran like a documentary. 

Sara wasn't really sure what she was afraid of. Were they showing her fate to her? Were the dreams warnings? Kenneth Irons had told her that they were lessons. She had learned something. Every memory that she had dreamed had told her that the Blade wielder dies an unpleasant death. 

She didn't want that to happen to her. 

It was a possibility for her. Considering what her profession, there was a very large chance that she would go out on a painful note. 

A chill ran down her spine. 

"I understand you getting into my home, but my place of work . . ." 

"Your desk man should invest in caffeine." 

Sara turned around in her chair and put her feet up on her desk. She stared at Nottingham 

"What is it this time?" 

Ian kept his head bowed and hid posture ridged. Sara wondered why he always stood like that. 

"Well, Ian, are you going to say anything or stand there? You could at least take a seat." 

"You should use this time to learn, Sara." 

"About wha- Ah, yes. The dreams that tell me the details of how all the people before me met their end. Oh I've been learning. That I don't want to die because this thing doesn't like me." 

"Learn from their mistakes, and it won't happen to you, Sara." 

"I don't even know what they did. All I see is the moment of the person's death. And would you stop saying my name at the end of every sentence you say." 

Nottingham raised an eyebrow, and raised his head to look at her. 

"You should by now that not everything is what it seems. The dreams, your case, or your partner." 

"What about Jake and what about my case?" 

"I know next to nothing on your case, Sara. I have been more interested in the former." 

"Why?" 

"He has eluded me twice, and has . . . snuck up on me, somehow. I did not ask him why." 

"Getting slow, Ian?" 

"No. I have a new respect for the former agent, Sara." 

"Huh?" She looked back to ask Ian what he had meant, but he was gone. 

What the hell was he talking about? Former what? 

Sara looked at the phone and considered calling Jake and asking what Nottingham had said. Her hand was half way to the receiver when the song she had heard in her earlier visions filled her ears. 

It was cold. Colder that when Ian had entered her office. Crying mingled with the song. And the Hudson River flashed in front of her eyes. 

The vision ended abruptly. 

Her body shook. It was still freezing. 

The river. She had to go to the river. 

Sara picked up her helmet and ran out of the building, not really sure where she needed to go. 

* * * * 

Rebecca was crying. She couldn't stop. How could he do this? 

What he was doing to David. 

"Please, stop!" She sobbed. 

The man continued to cut her husband apart. She couldn't run. She had broken her ankle when she tried that last time. He stopped his singing to speak. 

"There, all finished." 

He had nailed what was left of David to the brick wall of the old factory. He turned to look at her. 

"It's your turn now." 

"No! No, please! Go away! H-how could you do this!! Just leave me alone!" 

He thought Rebecca looked pretty when she was crying like that, but he had work to do. 

"Don't you like the picture?" 

She continued to sob. 

"I'm trying to help people. You and David are special. Like the others. I'm supposed to send you to be with them." 

He reached for Rebecca and she began to scream for help. 

He covered her mouth and broke her neck. It was the easiest way to get started. He took his nail gun and started to bend her body around the pieces of her husband that he had already placed on the faded add for Coke. He nailed her in place so she wouldn't fall down. When he was finished he stood back and admired his work. 

He was sure that Rebecca and David would love it as soon as they saw it. The others would like it too. It was one of his prettiest pictures yet. He took out his camera and took a Polaroid of it. So he would be able to look at it later. Someone was bound to find it, then the police would take it down. 

Oh well. He had a picture this time. It wouldn't make him as sad to see it come down. Now he had to go get cleaned up, and go meet the white-haired man. 

He had to find out what to do when the Atlanta girl got here. She was going to come to find her friend. Maybe the white-haired man could tell him how to make her go away, and how to do the same to the Partner. 

"Such a long day." 

He stretched and admired his picture some more. He took another picture, so the white-haired man could have one too. 

It was time to go. He piled his tools in a book bag, and walked away from the old factory. 

* * * * 

This was going to be so cool. It was dark, and it was so early. No one would see them. He and Ryan were going to spray paint the entire side of that old meat packing factory bright pink with huge black letters that said "fuck you!". 

It was going to be the best. 

"Hey, Chris?" 

"Yeah, Ryan." 

"Did you hear that? It sounded like some one crying." 

"What? If you're looking for an excuse to back out on me . . ." 

"No, mans. I'm serious." 

Chris shook his head in disgust, "It's probably some homeless prick who's feeling sorry for himself for, like, the one thousandth time." 

"It didn't sound like that." 

"Whatever. Are we going to do this or not?" 

Ryan nodded his head, reluctantly, and followed Chris down the old boardwalk. Ryan's head shot up when he thought he saw a reflection of a quick flash on the water. He didn't say anything to Chris this time. 

"Hey. Get out the flash light, the lighting ends soon." 

Ryan dug into his back pack and felt around for the large maglite that he always carried. He found it and turned it on. It was a two more blocks to the old meat packing plant. They had to go around it to get to the side that faced the Hudson. It was ok. Ryan had always liked the way that the old paintings looked. 

"Almost there, Ryan." 

"I'm jumping for joy." 

"You might not be, but I am. This is going to be so fucking cool." 

They spotted the busted out windows of the building, and looked for the small alley that ran around the perimeter of the factory. They found it and began to make their way around to the other side. 

Ryan heard a slight splash when he stepped in a puddle. 

"Damn it!" 

"What is it?" 

"Just watch out for water, man." 

Ryan lowered his flash light to see how wet his jeans had gotten. 

Water wasn't red. 

"Um, Ch-Chris?" 

"Yeah, man. " 

"I think that we-" 

Ryan had raised the light to see Chris leaning against the wall of the factory. His eye widened. 

"What is it?!" 

"Oh fuck!" 

"What?!" 

Chris turned around and finally saw what had Ryan so freaked. 

"Holy shit! Dude, let's go!" 

"Call the police! We can't just leave this here!" 

Chris fumbled with his cell phone and dialed 911. 

They waited on the other side of the factory. 

* * * * 

Sara's cell phone had gone off before she had a chance to put her helmet on her head. 

There was another one. At that meat packing plant near the river. 

The Blade had warned her. It was too late, though. She sped down the highway towards the crime scene. She got there and greeted the forensics team. 

"Hey, Jumbo." 

"Pez. It's a nasty one." 

"Aren't they all. Uh, where are the kids that called it in?" 

Jumbo pointed to the squad car, and returned to his work. Sara walked over to them and kneeled down in front of them. 

"I hear that you two found the body." 

"Bodies" The blonde one corrected. 

"Yeah, that's right. I'm Detective Pezzini." 

"I'm Ryan Bragg," The blonde one pointed to himself, " and this is Chris LaCroix." Ryan motioned to the brown-haired youth next to him. 

"What were you two doing out here?" 

"We didn't do it!" Chris mumbled. 

"I know you didn't. This isn't the first." 

"What if the killer knows we were around? What if he comes after us?" 

"He won't, Chris. You two will be in protective custody for a while. Now, what were you two doing out here." 

Ryan answered. 

"We were going to spray paint the side of the building with big letters that said 'fuck you'. On the side that faces the river." 

"Dude, don't tell her that!" 

"It's ok. It think that we can let the paint thing slide." 

Chris nodded his head. 

"Your parents will be contacted to come to the station. Officer Mills," She pointed to the driver of the car," is going to take you there. The both of you will need to give statements, and officers will be assigned to you for your protection." 

Sara got up to go and look at what the two boys had found. Ryan stopped her. 

"Detective Pezzini?" 

"Yes." 

"I hope you find this guy." 

"So do I." 

Officer Mills shut the door to the squad car, and took off for the station. Sara got out her phone and dialed the number to the airplane. 

"Delta flight 1020." 

"Yeah. I need to speak with Jake McCartey. It's an emergency." 

"Hold on. I'll find him for you." 

She followed the path of officers and medical personnel around to the wall that the boys had found. 

Good lord. 

She almost forgot to answer when Jake's voice came over the line. 

"Pez?" 

"Yeah. It, um, there's been another one." 

"Where?" 

"At the old meat packing plant that's next to the river." 

"It's our guy?" 

"Oh yeah. Two people this time. Some kids were coming to spray paint the walls and found the . . . picture." 

"How bad is it, Pez?" 

"There are pieces nailed into the brick. The woman's body has been bent around those." 

"Damn. Did he leave anything behind?" 

"I just got here. I don't know yet." 

"I'll be on the ground in an hour. I can use my cell then." 

"I'll call you back then." 

"All right. Be safe." 

"I'll do my best." 

"Later." 

She pressed the end button, and put her phone back in her pocket. She looked up and met the eyes of Ian Nottingham. It looked like it was back to being watched full time. 

Sara sighed in frustration and began to search the area. It was difficult to do. There was so much blood on the ground, and glass from the windows being broken. 

"Pez." 

She looked toward Danny's voice, and made her way to where he was standing. He looked down. Sara followed his example. There, in one of the many pools of crimson, was a piece of jewelry. 

"I need an evidence bag." 

Jumbo made his way over with a few, while she picked up the bracelet with her tweezers. 

She placed the bracelet in the plastic, and looked for anything else. 

"It's got an inscription on it." 

"Let me see." 

Jumbo shined his light on the under side of the bracelet. There was something written there. 

"Make a note of it." 

Sara looked back to not see Danny. She sighed and resumed her search. 

* * * * 

Jake McCartey watched the city of Raleigh-Durham from the window on the plane. They were about to touch down. 

It had been a long time since he had been here. He found that he would rather be somewhere else. Not that he didn't like the city, he thought it was great. Jake didn't like the reasons he had to come here. 

And now there were two more bodies to add to the list. 

There was supposed to be some one from the RPD there to meet him. Officer . . . some body. 

He rubbed his temples in an effort to make the headache that had formed to go away. When this was over he was going to follow Sara's example and take his vacation. That sounded good. Back out to Hawaii. Catch some waves. 

He smirked at what anyone else would say if he told them that. He wouldn't hear the end of it. 

Or he would just sleep for a straight week. No, the ocean was better than sleep. Unless he was with someone. 

The plane touched down on the runway, and Jake was jerked back in his seat. 

The sun was up. 

Hopefully the day would go by quickly. He doubted it. 

But he did have one thing to play that would get the SEALS to cooperate. They had better. 

"Welcome to Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The local time is 6:53 AM. If you are connecting to Miami you may leave your items aboard the plane. If Raleigh-Durham is your final destination, enjoy your stay. And thank you for flying Delta." 

Jake pulled his bag from the overhead compartment and exited the plane. His ride had better be there. 

The bright lights of the terminal greeted him. It was way too early for that. He spotted a dark-haired man holding a sign with his name hastily written across it. 

"Hey, man." 

"You Detective McCartey?" 

"That's me." 

"Sorry to do this, but we have to hurry or I get a parking ticket. I parked by the yellow line." 

Jake burst out laughing. 

"Are you in a marked car?" 

" . . . Yeah." 

"You won't get a ticket, if they see that you're the police." 

"Oh. I'm new at this." 

He gave Jake his hand to shake, "Chad Powell." 

"Nice to meet you." 

They walked through the airport to where the car had been parked. 

"So, I'm supposed to take you to the Navy Base?" 

"Yeah. They have information we need." 

"I always thought that the NYPD got whatever it asked for." 

"I wish." 

McCartey closed the car door and buckled up. Chad pushed the heater as high as it would go and left the curb. 

"They said you were homicide." 

Jake shook his head, "Yes". 

"Is the case you're working on that bad?" 

"More than you know." 

* * * * 

_She loved her garden. From a distance it looked as though a forest covered mountain had been placed in the middle of the city. An oasis in the middle of the desert. Her husband had covered the Ziggurat with exotic plants, and he was planning to create a water garden for her._

_He loved her so much._

_It was a shame that the view would not last._

_The City-States were at war._

_Again._

_She was going to fight with the warriors. She had a superior weapon._

_But she would miss her garden. People had come from across the lands to see the masterpiece._

_She could hear the enemy coming. She knew she would die during the battle. The Blade had shown her death in her dreams. And in the day dreams she had as well._

_She stood and took a last look at her garden._

_It was time to fight._

* * * * 

Sara opened her eyes. She reached for Jake, then remembered that he was gone. She had come to his place. He had asked her to, and she knew that Nottingham couldn't see her here. It looked like Jake was wrong, whatever it was didn't rub off. 

She sat up in bed, and stretched. She still had some time before she needed to go in. 

The bracelet had been the only object found at the factory. It would have to enough. 

Sara laid back down, and stared the the bedroom ceiling. 

She wanted Jake back. It was odd. They had been sharing a bed for almost a month now. 

The case had been open a month. They needed to close this thing. How? Was the hard question. 

She shut her eyes and went back to sleep. 

* * * * 

_The City was on fire. The warriors had breached its walls._

_She had killed many of them, but it she knew she had lost. A single blade had gotten through her defenses, and pierced her belly._

_Her life spilled out on to the sand. It did not astonish her._

_She had already known. So she had found a place to sit, up against a large rock. And she watched the City burn._

_She was becoming very tired, and the Blade was gone. She didn't care._

_The last thing she saw was her garden._


	10. Eclipse

X. Eclipse 

Rebecca and David Sheller. Married on March 3, 1995. No children. 

All these damn things read the same. 

Sara Pezzini rested her head on her desk. That statement wasn't entirely true. This time, there were friends and family to talk to. Unlike the Fillamore woman, whose relatives in Montana refused to give the NYPD the time of day. She was supposed to go and meet with Rebecca's sister and mother. Then go and talk with David's boss. 

It would go faster if Jake were here, but he wouldn't be back for two more days. Last night she had the same dream over and over. And she would always wake up at the same part of the dream. It had gotten old. Sara had almost gotten up just to see if Nottingham was lurking somewhere, at least then she'd have company. Even if he was a pest. She wasn't that desperate. 

"Sleeping on the job, Detective?" 

Why couldn't the Captain just disappear? 

"No, sir. I was contemplating banging my head on the desk." 

"Cute." 

Captain Dante stepped inside her office and looked around. 

"That's some wall paper you two have there." 

"I'm running out of room." 

"Actually," he laughed, "that's what I'm here to talk about. This case, is not going to well for the two of you, is it?" 

"No, sir. It isn't." 

He sat down in Jake's chair. 

"I realize that you and I . . . don't have a great love fore each other. I have re-evaluated my position on you, I've told you as much." 

"With all due respect, sir, please get to the point." 

"Is it too much, Detective? Is Jake holding you back? Why is this going nowhere?" 

"It is not too much. Jake has been a huge help, and it's not going anywhere because there is nothing to go on." 

"How so?" 

"There is hardly anything at the crime scenes, all of them have been so public that no individuals can be singled out. The victims don't seem to be connected in anyway. We figure that either this guy is highly intelligent to avoid us, or he doesn't care." 

"Doesn't care?" 

"When people try to cover things up they panic. They leave the best clues. The one's who don't care or worry are the hardest to catch." 

"True. I realize that this is difficult, but you two need to wrap this up. If you can't, I have to bring other teams in to help, and that will only slow things down." 

"I know that, sir." 

Dante stood up, "Let's get to work." 

He shut the door behind him. 

Sara got up and grabbed her helmet, it wouldn't hurt to be early to speak with the sister and mother. 

* * * * 

"I just don't understand how someone could do that to anyone." 

Joyce Roberts spoke quietly about her daughter. Rebecca's sister, Marie, had said nothing. 

"Every time I close my eyes, I see that picture that the Officer had to show me." She looked at the photo in her hand, "I'm glad her father wasn't here to see this." 

"Mrs. Roberts. As you know we have very little to go on. I know you've told us everything that you could think of, but I want you to try and find something that you didn't give in your earlier statement. No matter how strange." 

"She knew." 

"Pardon?" 

"My Rebecca, she knew that she wasn't going to live much longer. Both she and David knew. They had the sight, you know." 

"Mother," Marie interrupted, "don't tell Detective Pezzini that nonsense." 

"It's ok. Go on Mrs. Roberts." 

"You may think it is silly, but it was real. Rebecca saw things, she knew I was pregnant with Marie before I did. She dreamed these things, and they would happen. David was the same." 

"So, you say they were psychic?" 

"Yes. It was so strange. The both of them being that way. David saw things when he touched them. He knew when George, my late husband, got the cancer. And Rebecca saw his death in a dream. It was exactly the way she had described it to me. Even the funeral. A few months ago, she had come home and she was so pale. I thought she might have gotten sick with some flu, but she sat down and told me that she had another dream." 

"About what?" 

"Pain. Blood, a-and she said there was singing. She said had had seen her death." 

"Did she say if David had-" 

"Yes. Rebecca told me that David kept on having this feeling, like some one or something was keeping an eye on them." 

Sara wrote all of this down in her note book. Singing, in her visions there was always singing. 

"Marie would you go and put some tea on." 

"Of course mother." 

Joyce waited for her daughter to leave the room before she began again. 

"Ms. Pezzini. Have you seen something?" 

"Wh-what do you mean, Mrs. Roberts?" 

"Joyce, please. When I said that part about the singing, you had gotten so pale. Are you? Like my daughter?" 

"I really don't know, Joyce. This," she held up her notebook, "helps more than you know." 

Sara stood, and Joyce moved to guide her out of the house. 

"Thank you, again, for speaking with me. I know this is a hard time-" 

"I just want this man caught, Ms. Pezzini. This shouldn't happen to anyone." 

Joyce waited for Sara to start her bike and take off before she shut her door. 

"Mother, the tea is ready . . . are you all right?" 

"I'm just worried about Detective Pezzini." 

"She's a professional, she'll be okay." 

Joyce picked up the photo of her family that she had been holding earlier. Rebecca and David looked so happy. 

"I hope she will." 

* * * * 

She needed to dig up more on the other victims. The Fillamore family had hung up on her when she had tried to call them. David's boss had given her no new information. 

Sara wondered how Jake was doing in North Carolina. Only one more day until he came back. After she had left the Roberts' house, she had come back to the station and began to dig around. Maybe she could turn up something new on the other ID'd victims. After the call to Billings, it had left her with Anton Xanus, the SEAL, and Peter Thomas. Xanus had proved to be a dead end, for the thousandth time. So she had focused on Thomas. She had been here all day and night. 

It wasn't going quickly. 

That was the understatement of the year. 

Nearly every person Thomas knew was dead. There was a granddaughter in Baton Rouge, but repeated calls had yielded no results. It had ended up giving her a killer headache. The kind that had everything from the shoulders up in pain. 

She would have to try for the grand daughter later. 

A glance at the clock told her that it was nearly two in the morning. Sara had gotten up at four forty five. It was time to try and get some rest. She needed to call Jake. See if he had anything yet. 

Sara grabbed her helmet and took of to go back to Jake's apartment. She started up her motorcycle and pulled out on to the street. 

Heading in the opposite direction that she wanted to go. Instead, she took herself to the huge rot iron gates that marked the entrance to Kenneth Irons home. 

The gates opened and she drove up the long, winding driveway to the main building. She parked her bike by the main door and walked though the open door. 

Why was she here? 

"Isn't it a bit too early for house calls, Sara?" 

"You tell me. I don't even know why I'm here." 

Ian Nottingham closed the doors behind her. Did he ever sleep? 

"I can not tell you what I do not know, Sara." 

"Yeah right." She said under her breath. 

"But you are here, and we should make use of this time." 

"And what would that entail?" 

"Perhaps I could change your mind about my offer, or convince you to stop whatever it is between you and Detective McCartey; take your pick, Sara." 

She narrowed her eyes at Irons. Neither of those two things would happen. 

"Why do you want this thing so badly?" 

"I know. There are more powerful beings and objects out there. So why the Witchblade? It is an interesting question." 

"Then answer it." 

"I feel drawn to it. It fascinates me." 

"You said there were things out there more powerful than this?" 

"Yes. Most myth is based in truth. Believe it or not, there are individuals who could rip this planet in half. I find it very interesting that many of those people or not even over 21. Other armored legends that originate from Asia, are so true that some of the persons in question are the only thing keeping life as we know it safe. And all of us alive. I would not want to interfere with that. Would I?" 

"Moby was right about you." 

"He was, wasn't he?" 

"You can't find a way to control them, can you?" 

"I wouldn't dream of trying. I do have a healthy fear of death." 

"They'd off you?" 

"I know. I know. Do the world a favor. It really doesn't matter. I am the only one who can offer you any sort of knowledge on the Blade. You will come to me, one day, " he laughed, "You already have. And the Blade always comes back to me." 

Sara glared at him and left, Ian opened the doors for her as she passed by. 

"Good night, Sara." 

She didn't answer him. 

* * * * 

Why did all of these places have to look the same? 

Jake McCartey walked down the long, dark metal hall way in the Naval Base. After Officer Powell had dropped him here, he had been searched almost instantly. They had let him keep his phone, for a little while. He had to leave it with the desk clerk at the beginning of the hall way. 

She had recognized him. He didn't tell her that he was with the NYPD, he let her think that he was helping them with some assignment. She believed him. 

The only thing that bothered him was that she was authorized to answer his phone. It was part of her job. He had a bad feeling about that. 

Jake got to the door he was looking for and knocked. 

"Enter." A voice replied. 

Jake opened the door to greet the General. 

"Oh. You. I though that the NYPD was sending some one." 

"They did, General." 

"An agent? Working with the civilian police. I didn't know that the DO-" 

"I am on the permanent inactive list, General," He flashed his badge. 

"I'm not one to argue. If I had know it would be this Jake McCartey, I would have sent Xanus' records on immediately." 

Jake was confused. The General was unfamiliar to him. 

"I'm sorry, General, but we have never met." 

"Not like this. I was in Greece seven years ago. I was the front to the mission you were on." 

"Really? Who did you think I was when I called?" 

"That surfer guy." 

"That's me, too." 

The General looked at him in disbelief. Jake raised an eyebrow. The General turned around in his chair, and came back with a sealed package. He slid it across his desk. 

"Here's everything on Xanus. I trust that what isn't meant to be seen, won't" 

"I understand." 

"Is it different? The NYPD from the Agencies?" 

"Night and day. Thank you, General." 

Jake turned and left. 

* * * * 

_There was blood covering everything. Nearly every one had fallen._

_She continued to slash her way through the battle. Friend and foe alike met their end on her sword, if they were in the way. She wanted to get to the Ninja master. She wanted to rip his heart out and squeeze the life from his body while he watched._

_It would be glorious._

_She would feed him to his underlings, then crush them as well._

_Everyone would die. It didn't matter who they were anymore. It's what the Blade wanted. To bathe in the red life of all it's enemies._

_She didn't mind too much. She enjoyed the act of killing._

_The setting was perfect. The moon was full, and it's color mirrored the scene below her._

_Another down, and another, and another. She could see their leader._

_They locked eyes as his last guard died on the end of her sword._

_He raised his weapon in a mock salute and took up a defensive position._

_She lunged at him, and their battle began._

_The sounds of metal on metal rang through the surrounding hills._

_The smell of victory invaded her nose, and she let out a full throated laugh that echoed just as loud as the sounds their swords made. The fight intensified. She couldn't lose._

_She was superior to this filth that she fought. He was hardly worth her time._

_Her laughter grew._

_The enemy smiled, and her sword was knocked form her hand._

_No! It wasn't supposed to be this way!_

_He lifted his blade in to the air, and took her head off._

* * * * 

Sara fell out of bed. She frantically reached for her neck. It was still there. She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. She didn't want to end up dead. Not for a long time. She wiped the tears off her face and composed herself. She needed to talk to some one. 

She climbed back into bed, and picked up the phone. Her fingers dialed Jake's cell number. 

Three rings. 

A woman's voice answered. 

"Hello." 

"Who is this?" 

"This is General Banner's secretary." 

"What are you doing with this phone?" 

"No cellular devices are allowed beyond this point. I am authorized to answer any incoming calls for screening." 

"Where is Jake McCartey?" 

"Agent McCartey is unavailable. Have a good night." 

The line went dead. There was that "Agent" thing again. Either Jake was in over his blonde head, or he hadn't told her everything. Maybe she should . . . no. She wasn't going to do a search on her partner. But it was the second time that word had come up. 

Sara got dressed and headed for the office. Should she be doing this? 

Curiosity always got the better of her. With no one on the streets, she was there in no time. Officer Smitty greeted her at the door. 

"Just want to check on something, Smitty." 

"Happy hunting. I have a drunk to go pick up." 

"Sounds like fun." 

"You know it." 

He started his squad car and backed out of the parking space. She liked Smitty, he was always nice. 

She went straight to her computer, and hesitated. 

"What am I doing?" She whispered. 

"I've come this far." 

She began to type in the starting information. 

* * * * 

The white-haired man had liked his picture. He should have taken photographs of the others too. It was too late for that. They were all gone now. The police had taken his most recent one's apart, but nature had taken the others. It wasn't such a big deal to him, he could remember what each of them had looked like. The white-haired man was always happy with his work. 

He liked to make people happy. 

It made him happy. 

He liked to be happy. 

Being happy all the time wasn't a good thing, though. Sometimes he had to be careful. The white-haired man had told him that the Partner was gone for a while. That had made him happy, but he needed to be careful right now. Something had upset the Lady Detective. She seemed like she was looking for something. He couldn't follow her into the building, but he still got to see her. As long as he was careful. 

He needed to be careful when the Partner came back, and when the Atlanta girl got here. The white-haired man had told him not to worry about her. He would know what to do when the time came. 

He trusted the white-haired man. 

He didn't worry about her anymore. 

He closed his eyes and looked for the Lady Detective. She had found something that made her sad. 

He wondered what it was. 

* * * * 

"You answered my phone?!" 

"It was procedure, sir." 

Oh man! He should have shut it off. He knew some thing was going to happen. 

"Did they say who it was?" 

"No. It was some woman asking for you." 

Even better. It was Pez. 

"What did you tell her, exactly?" 

"That Agent McCartey was unavailable." 

Jake's heart nearly stopped. Oh shit. Pez was going to be pissed. He knew her enough to know that she would find out what the secretary had meant by "Agent." Curiosity would get the better of her. 

He'd be sleeping on the floor. If she didn't completely get rid of him for not telling her everything. It's not like he could have just told her. Jake had taken a vow. 

"I'm out of here." 

* * * * 

"What's eating you, Pez?" 

Danny had appeared an hour ago. She had decided to call it quits two hours ago. The screen saver had come on a long time ago. 

"Aw, come on. You can tell me." 

"You were right. I shouldn't have trusted him." 

"Who? McCartey? No. I was wrong, he's one guy you can trust." 

She moved the mouse to end the screen saver. A short list comprised of years, locations, and other information came up. 

"Four years of his life are classified. All I could find was that he had been in the Mediterranean." 

"Military?" 

"No. Government." 

"Ask him about it, Pez. Maybe he'll tell you." 

"Do you know, Danny?" 

"Yeah. I told you to ask him about it, remember?" 

"What? Greek Mythology? That's a long way off from a government agent!" 

"What else is in there?" 

"Nothing I didn't already know." 

Sara closed the window, and leaned back in her chair. She didn't know if she should be mad at Jake right now. She'd find out soon enough. His flight arrived in four hours. 


	11. Lumina

I have no idea who Andre Norton is, but I'll take it as a compliment. 

I hope part of this make those of you, and you know who you are, happy! I don't normally give in to _anything._

Remember what I said about that other thing I had collaborated on? The character is NOT me, I just used the name a pen name. Since she was mostly my creation. I'm much too busy for that. Go to the journal section of my web page. 

Sign my guest book. 

I own nothing. 

*********************************************************************** 

XI. Lumina 

Jake McCartey _really_ didn't want to reach La Guardia. In his mind, he had gone over as many scenarios as he could think of. The one he was rooting for was the one where Sara wasn't able to pick him up, and he could disappear and never have to face her. He knew that she knew. He had checked all of the standard databases. 

His file had been tapped. 

It hadn't been breached, but it had been located. 

He wasn't mad at her. Jake had expected to have to tell her sooner or later, but not now. He was hoping that she would understand. Knowing his luck, she'd slap him. With the Witchblade in it's armored form. It was going to hurt. 

A lot. 

"Please return you seats and trays to their upright position in preparation for our arrival." Aww man!! 

The plane touched down on the runway. He always hated landing. Especially when it was snowing out side. At least there was no ice. The plane taxied to the gate. 

Now that he wanted things to slow down, everything was going too quickly. The plane came to a halt. He took in a deep breath, grabbed his bag, and did his best to stall. Screw it. Might as well face the proverbial music. He kept his head down when he walked through the gate. A quick glance found his partner walking up to him. 

Damn. 

"Did you get it?" 

Jake held up his bag and nodded. He was surprised when she hugged him. Oh, he was in for it. 

"How was your trip, Agent McCartey?" Sara whispered in his ear. She was pissed. 

"Not here. Please." He replied. 

Sara let go of him and nodded, "Let's go then." They walked out of the airport, and to his car. 

Nothing was said during the entire ride to his place. He hadn't thought of this one on the plane. It was too late to try and get out of this, and it wouldn't look to good if he even attempted to get away. Sigh. He'd tell her what he was allowed to. 

She opened the door to his apartment and turned to face him as soon as the door shut. 

"Ja-" 

"I took an oath, Sara. It's not the best idea to break it." 

"You're CIA?! Why are you with the NYPD?! How many times could you have-" 

"Yes and no. I'm no longer active, Sara. I joined up because, I thought I'd be good at it." 

"Yes and no?! What the hell does that mean?!" 

"I was Deparment of Justice, they loaned me out to the CIA for a while." 

"You do have federal connections, you lied to me!" 

"I have used whatever I still have access to. I don't withhold stuff like that!" 

"You already have! I-" 

"Not when it could help someone!" 

"I trusted you! You've been here, looking in on everything we do, and reporting back to who knows who!" 

He dropped his bag and ran his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath to calm himself. What could he say? 

"Sara, I told you I'm not active anymore. I'm not with the Agency or with the DOJ!" 

"Somehow I doubt that they just let people go!" 

"You're right they don't. We still keep an eye on people, but I'm not an operative anymore." 

"You- you're not watching me? Are you?" 

"No. Not you." 

"If you had just told the Navy who you were over the phone, they would have sent the files over, right?" 

"More than likely." 

"You could have saved us time!" 

"I can't just say something like that on an open line. They wouldn't have even believed me!" 

"If you had found a way, then you wouldn't have had to leave! And I wouldn't have had to have anymore of those damn dreams!" 

"Sara?" 

He reached out to touch her arm and she pushed him away. 

"Don't touch me!" 

He grabbed her arm anyway. 

"You're not that mad at me for not telling you about my old job, are you?" 

It was more of a statement than a question. Sara nodded her head yes. 

"I'm sorry. Like I said, they wouldn't have believed me. The General thought I was 'that surfer guy'." 

They sat down on his couch, "You are that surfer guy." She smiled a little. 

"They didn't know that. I did that after." 

"Aren't you a little young to have done all that. You're only 33." 

"You'd be surprised how young some of the us are." 

"I'm still mad at you." 

Jake smiled at her tone and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her shoulder. 

"I'm sorry, Sara." 

"Just don't do it again." 

He laughed, "What?" 

"Don't leave, and if there is any other little facts you forgot to mention - spill it." 

"I can't promise that one of us won't have to take off. As for the other one: I was the one who broke the water machine." 

"I'll have to report that." 

The both of them laughed at the comment, and Sara turned to face him. 

"Were the dreams that bad this time?" 

She nodded her head, "Yeah. More than the others." 

"So much for the wondering if it rubs off, huh?" 

"That's exactly what I thought, you're back so it doesn't matter." 

"I guess not." 

Jake closed the remaining distance between them, and kissed her. 

* * * * 

The Partner was back sooner that he had expected. He wasn't happy. He thought that the Lady Detective and the Partner didn't like each other like that. The white-haired man had been wrong. It must be a new thing. 

This would make things more difficult. He would have to wait for some time to take the Lady Detective. He would have to get both of them. He would send her to the others, and dispose of one more Negation. He would help someone, and make the world a better place. He would have to be careful. He had to put being happy aside for them, but it would wait. 

He needed to go find that English man who was at the outdoor restaurant. He would be taking his break soon. 

The Partner tensed, and pulled away from the Lady Detective. She looked confused that he had stopped. 

What was going on? 

He said something to her, and looked towards him thorough the window. 

Had the Partner seen him? No. But the Partner knew he was out here. It was time to leave before they found him. He was angry with himself, he hadn't been careful enough. He had been sad that the Lady Detective and the Partner were together. Negations weren't worthy of the seers. He took off down the fire escape, and started running. He ran for a long time. 

He was half way to the restaurant the English man worked at. He could slow down now. They wouldn't find him. He had learned that English man got off work soon. After breakfast was done with. The English man had a very pretty apartment. He would leave his picture there this time. There was a pretty glass wall, it had color all over it. It would be a really pretty picture. Maybe better than Rebecca and David. 

The Lady Detective would make another pretty picture. He liked pretty things. He would be doing the Lady Detective a big favor by killing the Partner. 

He wouldn't get a picture. 

* * * * 

"There's something wrong." 

"There's always something wrong." 

"With Seiji." 

"Like what?" 

"First of all, Seiji doesn't even know how to be late. He and punctuality are biologically related. He should be here, M!" 

"Calm down, Drew. The weather isn't that great. It could be holding him up," She eyed him, "You could fix that, you know." 

"I don't think that ninety degree weather in the middle of New York's winter would be a good idea. If I did that, there would be flash floods. Besides, I think it would cause a problem when they noticed that weird weather patterns were originating form JKF International, don't you?." 

"It never stopped you before." 

"We're not in battle . . . But that's not all. We're connected, Seiji and I. At first it thought it was the distance separating us, but know that I'm here. . . it's wrong." 

"We're too young to rent a car: We're only 19, you have to be 25." 

"We can take a cab to the hotel. I know where Jim's bike is. We can get it after we get settled in." 

Ian Nottingham watched the two teens try to figure out where their friend was. Kenneth Irons would be interested to know that they were in New York. The male stopped talking and stood up straight. He began to look around his location. He knew Ian was there. He was more aware than Detective McCartey. Irons was right, they were impressive. 

And it seemed that one of their number was missing. 

Ian blended into the crowd and headed towards the pay phone. He dialed his employers private line. 

"Yes, Ian." 

"Something worth knowing. Two of the Yorid-" 

A hand took the phone away from Ian. It was the male, Drew was his name. He hung up the receiver. 

"Leave it," He told Nottingham. 

He took of with his female companion, and walked away from him. 

This was going to be very difficult. 

Ian hated being bested. 

* * * * 

They had been stuck in grid lock for almost an hour, and hadn't even made it half way to the precinct. Sara didn't mind too much. It gave her time to rest. She could do that. As part of Jake's punishment, she had made him drive. 

For the past thirty minutes she had lingered in the half asleep, half waking state of mind. Not really aware of anything. Except, perhaps, Jake's hand on her thigh. She had been confused when he had abruptly ended their kiss. But he was adamant that they were being watched. A search of the neighboring building had confirmed his feeling. Whoever it was had taken off. It wasn't Nottingham, he wasn't messy. 

She was being tailed by two people now. Great. 

They were going to have to find someplace else to go. She had informed Captain Dante over the phone. Her new stalker had shown up at both her apartment and at Jake's. 

Dante told them not to go home. Maybe it was their killer. Find someplace else and don't let each other out of their sight. 

She smiled at that. Dante had given them permission to see each other. She really didn't know the policy on fraternization between partners and co-workers. Truth be told, Sara had skipped over it thinking it would never apply to her. She hoped it was nothing to be worried about. Come to think of it, she didn't think there was one. A list of names of partners who had even gone af far to to get married ran through her head. Nothing to worry about. 

"It had better be something worth looking at." 

"Hmm?" 

"Whatever has us sitting here." 

Yawn. 

"I'm fine." 

"I can see that." 

Sara smiled. 

"We could be getting work done if you would let me go through that file you went through so much trouble to get." 

Jake shook his head at her, "There's stuff in there you're not supposed to see, Sara. I can't." 

"I can keep a secret." 

"I know you can, but they always find out. I need to go through it before I show anything to anyone." 

"National security risk?" She teased him. 

"You never know." 

"You don't strike me as the spy type." 

He leveled a glare at her, then smiled. "That's the point, Sara." So much for flirting. Her cell phone rang. 

"This is Pez, go . . . and . . . we'll get there as soon as we can." 

"Let me guess, another one?" 

"Yeah. In those apartments on 45th and 7th. The north side." 

"Let's see if we can get out of here." 

* * * * 

Another person had died. Seiji loathed being helpless. He didn't want people to die. Especially in the manner that this guy was doing it. Seiji had taken lives before, but it was in combat. He had never done it in cold blood. He rationalized it that way. Some would say that there was no difference. In actuality, he couldn't kill a person if he wanted to. Halo required just cause for him to do that. 

That didn't apply to some. 

His captor fell into that category, but he had re-evaluated his opinion recently. 

The drug that Seiji had been given had reeked havoc with his telepathic abilities. He wasn't able to project his thoughts or feelings, but the receiving end of it had not been shut down. In turn, he was also shut of from Halo for some reason. He had not been lying when he told the man that he was learning about him. 

His mind was slowly deteriorating. It was strange, however. The man's mind was becoming more and more childlike, but he still fully understood the "grown -up" world. It didn't seem natural. But Seiji couldn't be sure. He had never seen anything like it. 

Seiji wondered what had been done to him. 

"What are you thinking?" 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"You look like you're thinking. I wanted to know." 

"I was thinking about you." 

The man seemed overly happy about that. He smiled and shook his head like an exited five year old. 

"About what?!" 

"Just what you're doing, is all." 

A chill ran down Seiji's spine. The cold didn't go away after it was finished. That _always_ accompanied her arrival. Oh no. She would kill the man if he got in her way. Granted her mind was no longer plagued by the madness that had made her psychotic. He had fixed that. She was very lucid now, but she wouldn't hesitate. 

Another presence touched his mind. Drew. Between the two of them, he wouldn't be here much longer. 

"You look sad." 

"Believe it or not, in a way, I am. For you." 

"Why me?" 

He looked at the man, and the man's face fell. He knew. 

Seiji's friends were here. 

* * * * 

After some yelling and threats, Jake and Sara had made their way out of traffic, and to the less traveled side roads. They had arrived at the apartment an hour ago. They had searched the apartment of Brian Currie, and had come up with almost nothing. Almost, this time, might turn out to be a good thing. There was a smear of blood on a the door knob. From the way the room looked, it didn't seem to belong to the victim. 

When the forensic team had found it, the team had broken into something resembling a victory dance. She and Jake had rolled their eyes at the guys. They needed to get out more. 

But, if it was from their guy, it would be a huge step forward. 

The coroner began to cut away at the remains of the stained glass wall. Brian Curry had been impaled on the glass. Several of the large jagged peak had made sections out of his body. Sara had a vision the minute she had stepped over through the door way.   
It was blurry, but she had made out two people. Other that than the sounds of shattering glass, the ever present song had been the only thing that was heard. 

Jake put his hand on her back and began to lead them away from the scene. 

They wished the forensics team good luck, and headed for the car. 

Jake closed her door for her and rounded the car. When he had gotten behind the steering wheel, he dropped something in her lap. The Xanus file. She turned her head and grinned at him. 

"If there us anything in that package that is sealed . . ." 

"I won't open it." 

He gave her a quick kiss and started the engine. She opened the box and began to sort through it's contents. It was like Christmas, in a morbid sort of way. It had started snowing again. 

She took a look at some of the pages, and sighed in frustration. 

"Jake." 

"Uh, yeah?" 

"I hope you can read this." 

"Read what?" 

"The stuff that isn't english." 

He leaned over and glanced at what she was holding. 

"Sure I can. Just go over the stuff that is in English." 

Sara thumbed through the sheets of papers, and halted when she though she had seen something familiar. She went back a few, and pulled out a stapled packet. It was written in what looked like German to her, but she didn't need to be able to read the language to recognize this. 

"Vorshlage." 

"What's that, Pez?" 

"Can you read German?" 

"I need to get out my dictionary, but yeah." 

"This thing mentions Vorshlage." 

Jake observed at her profile at the red light. It looked like they would be paying Kenneth Irons a visit. 


	12. Winter

XII. Winter 

Jake McCartey watched his partner across his desk. He had given her what she was allowed to see. At the moment he had taken a break from translating the German document. It had been a while since he had done anything like that, but it was like riding a bike. After a minute or two, he got back into the rhythm of things. Stopping here and there to look up a word or two. It didn't help that he didn't speak German. He had taken classes to learn how to read the language, but talking was a whole other world. He wouldn't have a problem with the Greek or Japanese, he was fluent in those. 

This Xanus guy got around. Who was he to talk about going around the globe? Jake had done his share of traveling. Australia was one of his favorites. He loved the beaches there, great waves too. He had put Greece and Crete on the top of his list, even if there was no surfing there. 

Sara Pezzini handed him another paper without looking up. A continuation of what he was reading right now. Vorshlage had its hands in everything, didn't it? 

The document dealt with testing of some kind. The type was unknown at the moment. It had been given a code name. He'd have to check up on that. 

"It says here that Xanus and another man, James Broody, were in the same unit. Broody was discharged a few years before Xanus for failing a psychological exam. They were both that experiment together." 

"Can you find out what that testing was, Jake?" 

He nodded his head in the affirmative. 

"Vorshlage provided the materials for the experiment. It doesn't say if it was a success or failure. The results might be in Xanus' medical records." 

"Where are those?" 

He pointed to the yellow envelope that her elbow was resting on. She picked it up and examined it. It was sealed: one of those things that she wasn't supposed to look at. He reached over and took it out of her hand. 

"I was looking at that." 

"No you weren't." 

He undid the tabs on the envelope and pulled the contents out. They were blank sheets of paper. 

"Jake, there's nothing there." 

Jake held the papers up to the ceiling light. 

"Water mark. Cool, huh?" 

"I was about to have a heart attack, Jake." 

"They don't do this anymore, actually. Too easy to figure out." 

Sara went back to reading the stack of papers on her desk, and Jake continued with his side of things. 

"Found it! . . . uh, Sara? What did the Roberts' woman say about her daughter and son-in-law?" 

"They were very happy together." 

"No. The other thing." 

"That they were both some kind of psychics. Why?" 

He sat back down. 

"It looks like Vorshlage was helping test SEAL personnel for any substantial mental abilities. Xanus passed. That's not all, either." He held another sheet up. "It claims that Vorshlage was trying to develop those abilities in people who didn't have them. That part didn't go too well. Broody was released after the procedure went wrong." 

"What do you think will happen if I try and get Thomas' grand daughter on the phone?" 

"We have three, four really, people who shared a common trait. Might increase the count to five. Six, if Currie claimed to be as well." 

"What happened to Broody?" 

"He disappeared." 

* * * * 

Tim Rykles was a man who loved his job. He had been in love with the concept of forensic science since the moment he had learned of its existence. It was truly something to marvel at. They could solve entire cases by having an eye lash, some fibers from clothing, and in the most current situation a very small amount of blood. 

When Jumbo had found the blood smear on the door knob, Tim had shouted "yes" at the top of his lungs. Detectives Pezzini and McCartey looked at him like he was out of his over active mind. 

But he had been right. The blood wasn't from Brain Currie. It came from another body. Currie had been AB negative, this sample was O positive. 

Tim printed out his findings and ran from the lab to his car. It wasn't too far to the precinct. He illegally parked in a handicapped space, and ignored the warning that a uniformed officer shouted at him. He didn't care. He looked around for the correct door and skidded to a halt when he found the right one. 

He knocked and a woman's voice told him it was open. 

"Hey you guys." 

"Hey Tim." Jake greeted him. Sara was talking on the phone. 

"What's up, Jake?" 

"We might have found something. You?" 

"I did find something." 

Sara's head shot up. 

"Got it right here," He handed Jake the print out. "We were right. The blood on the door was from another person. He must have cut himself on the broken glass. I know it really doesn't narrow anything down that much-" 

"Hey Tim. It makes our job that much easier." 

"I ordered a DNA profile. It might help some." 

"Thanks. Hey, um, did you guys find anything else after we left." 

"Some mud. It came from that factory. We checked every where for a foot print. Nada. What did you two come up with?" 

"We're checking it out before we say anything official." 

"Cool, man. That's cool. I will leave you two to your work." 

The uniformed officer that had yelled at him stuck his head in the room. 

"You can't park in a handicapped spot without a permit, pal." 

"Bring the ticket on!" 

Tim heard Jake laugh as he followed the officer out to the parking lot, and plucked the ticket out from his windshield wipers. He saluted the officer and took off. 

Tim Rykles didn't care too much at the moment. He was treating himself to Mexican. 

* * * * 

"What the both of you are telling me, is that all of your identified victims, not including the Fillamore woman, claimed to be . . . psychic?" 

"Yes, sir," Sara said slowly, "It is the only thing that the victims have in common." 

"This is all you have?! Houcus Poucus?! I need something real, _Detectives_!!" 

"Well, it doesn't matter if we believe it, sir. What does is that the victims did. Maybe even the killer." 

"McCartey?" 

"Sir." 

"Was something like this in the SEAL's file?" 

"Yes, Captain Dante." 

The Captain took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. 

"Well . . . I really don't know what to say, Detectives. I mean this . . ." He motioned to the air. 

Sara spoke up. "It's more that what we had, sir." 

Dante nodded his head in agreement, "It is." 

Another deep breath. 

"Go home Detectives get some rest. When you find a place to stay, call in the number." 

"Good night, Sir." 

Jake and Sara exited the Captain's office. 

"He didn't like that one, Jake." 

"He didn't fire us. That's progress, right?" 

Jake wiped the snow of the windshield of the car before he got in. Sara cranked up the heater, and waited for him. 

"If it gets any colder . . ." 

"It's not that bad. So, where do we go from here?" 

"Food." 

"All right." 

He backed out of the parking space, and left the precinct. 

Too bad neither of them took notice of the man sweeping off the walk way. He had been watching them again. 

* * * * 

_This wasn't supposed to be possible. She was born to wear the Blade. But the other woman had taken it from her, and had complete control of the weapon._

_The other woman didn't seem too well. She was out of her mind. The warrioress reminded her of the old tales. The one's about he gods from the north. Where the Viking men lived. But they were all blonde. The woman had brown hair._

_And she was so cold. She thought she might freeze to death._

_Maybe the Blade was hers to begin with. No one knew where it had come from. It did look like it had come off the other's armor. If you could have called it armor. It looked to serve no purpose, but she had found out the hard way that it did. She had fought the other woman, it didn't look like she could win._

_It got even colder. It wasn't supposed to be this cold in Germania. The red snow crunched under her boots. Giving her location away._

_"Damn."_

_"You shouldn't say bad words." She spun around to meet the other woman's blue eyes. The Glove was different for her. It must be different for everyone. She held the long sword in her hand, not attached as hers was._

_"Who are you?"_

_The other woman laughed. Like it was some kind of joke only she could understand. Did the cold not bother her?_

_"Who is anyone? A name is only a name." She was insane!_

_She took off running through the forest. She ran forever. She stopped to catch her breath. When she looked up, the other woman was there._

_She raised the sword to her neck. She could feel blood well up at the point of contact._

_"What makes you think you're worthy? To know anyone's name?"_

_"Tell me who you are! And when I get the Glove back, I might spare your life."_

_"You," She laughed again, "Spare me. I have died so many times. I have killed so many times." She trailed off. "Does one more really matter?"_

_"Who, what are you?!"_

_The other woman stopped laughing._

_"Winter."_

_She raised the blade and swung to take her head off._

_The blow never fell._

_She opened her eyes to find no one there, and the bracelet on the bloodied snow at her feet._

_* * * *_

Sara bolted up right in bed. She could still feel the oppressive cold from her dream. It wouldn't go away. She pulled the covers closer to her body. It didn't help. 

She continued to shiver. 

When was Jake getting back? 

He had left an hour or so ago to get some of his things. She had laid down on the bed and had fallen asleep instantly. And dreamt. What a strange dream. She thought only one person could rightfully wear the blade in one lifetime. The other woman . . . she was able to use the Blade more readily than the Blade wielder. "Winter" was impressive. The dream seemed so surreal this time, it made Sara wonder if it was a memory from a past wielder or someone else's dream. 

The bed sunk slightly beside her. She hadn't heard Jake come in. 

"Sara, are you all right?" 

"I'm cold." 

Jake wrapped his arms around her. She was still shivering. 

"Jake?" 

"Yeah." 

"Rules." 

"Rules?" 

"We go slow. All right?" 

She felt him nod his head in agreement. The snow had picked up out side, again. There was a odd moaning sound, and the power went out. Hopefully the hotel had a back up generator. Sara leaned back into Jake. 

They sat in silence in the dark. 

* * * * 

The Lady Detective and the Partner weren't home. He had watched them when they left the police station, but he didn't drive. So he couldn't follow them. It didn't matter, all he had to do was close his eyes and concentrate. That's how he found everyone else. Now that he knew what she felt like, the Lady Detective was relatively easy to find. 

They had gone somewhere to get away from him, or was it from the man in black. He wasn't too sure. He would have gone to look for her, but the snow was a problem. It hadn't snowed like this in a long time, and the wind made it worse. 

So, he would wait again. Waiting wasn't so bad. But it didn't help that it was cold. 

Seiji didn't seem to mind it all that much. When he had asked him if he was cold, Seiji had only looked at him. He didn't say anything. 

Oh well. 

He had found more people to help anyway. He had done that last night. He had found one at the Police Station. He was the man in the uniform behind the desk at night. 

He would have to hold off on him, though. The police wouldn't understand. They were very protective of their people. 

The officer wasn't at the top of his list right now. 

In two days, the little girl would be at the park again. 

He had been waiting to help her for a long time. 


	13. Purgatory

I have a problem. My mind is fried. I was curious about what police policy was on relationships. I found it! It took me all night!!! But I found it!! And my brain has yet to recover. 

*************************************************************************************** 

XII. Purgatory 

Captain Bruno Dante watched everything around him. He made sure he knew as much as he could about what was going on in his precinct. He was a good cop, but that didn't mean that he didn't stick his nose into the things that he wasn't supposed to. He had nearly forgotten what it was to do honest work, and not what he considered his own brand of justice. 

Right now, he had his eye on two of his homicide detectives. Dante could care less about Jim Pezzini's wayward daughter, but her trainee on the other hand . . . He swore by the sunday news paper that he saw something of himself and Jake McCartey. But the boy was stubborn. Time and time again he had offered to reassign McCartey to another partner, to even train him on his own. 

He always refused, or never gave Dante an answer. 

The Captain resigned it to a misplaced sense of loyalty. 

One way or another, he would get through to McCartey. He had too, Dante had nominated him for membership. It would be harder to separate him and Pezzini now. It looked like she had begun to take her responsibility more seriously. You didn't see one without the other. He hadn't helped any, either. 

When Pezzini had called in to inform him of their little shadow, the part of him that still gave a damn about doing his job the way it was meant to be done, had taken over for a brief moment. He had told them to stick with each other. 

He really hated that woman. So far, everything he had thought of to get rid of her hadn't worked. 

It was time to call his man again. 

* * * * 

"So, now what?" 

"What do you mean, Jake?" 

Sara took another bite out of her english muffin while they walked to Jake's car. He closed her door for her, and rounded the car to miss getting hit by a taxi cab. 

"Watch it!" 

He yanked open his door, and slammed it shut. 

"See, you're already starting to fit in." Sara joked. Jake glared at her before he continued his earlier question. 

"What I mean is: what now? We have something that links all of the victims. Great. Where does that put us? I don't think that we can get out on the street with big sign that reads, 'Had any visions lately? Think you might be Clairvoyant? If so please contact your local NYPD precinct.' " 

"That's what we have to figure out." 

"How do you find that out anyway?" 

"I told you." 

Jake shook his head, "Our guy has a high chance of not knowing his victims personally, so how did he know?" 

"I don't know. Maybe he has some kind of sense for it?" 

"Great. A human bloodhound." Wasn't this city weird enough. 

"What would the ex-spy do?" She teased. 

"Sara . . . stop it." He warned. 

"You won't hear the end of it." 

Jake started the car, and pulled out on to the street. At least she didn't say stuff like that in public. 

"I think you're a bit too paranoid, Jake." 

"I'm supposed to be." 

This was going to be a long day. The first thing he had done when he had woken up this morning, was to slam his hand against the night stand. It hurt just thinking about it. About the only good thing so far was when Sara had taken a a good portion of his time to give him a good morning kiss. 

Jake had forgotten about his hand after that, and now she was making fun of him. Maybe the car should have hit him. It would have made his headache go away. To top it off, more of New York City's famous morning rush-hour traffic. It's a good thing that they didn't have a set time to be in the office. He rested his forehead against the steering wheel. They wouldn't be moving for a while. 

He needed to go to the gym and hit something before he took it out on someone. 

"He's had to have researched who he was going after. We don't know if the victims put up much of a fight, if any at all. He seems to know where he needed to be and when. He probably follows them to learn about his victims, Jake." 

He didn't move his head when he answered. 

"Want me too look up any convicted stalkers that have been released recently?" 

"What's that, Jake? I lost your voice in the floor boards." 

He turned his head to repeat to look at her. He sighed. 

"I said ' Want me to-" 

"It's okay, Jake. I heard you the first time. And yes. I do." 

He moved his head in something the resembled a nod. He was so tired all of the sudden. He could never stay angry at any one for too long, it always took a lot out of him. 

"Do you want me to drive, Jake?" 

"Yeah, yeah." 

Their exiting of the car resulted in several drivers yelling at them. He didn't understand it. Maybe he should go back to being a beach bum. The only danger there was risk of heat stroke, and there were fewer instances of headaches. He jumped when Sara joined the other drivers in honking the horn. 

This was going to take forever. 

* * * * 

He knew where the Lady Detective and the Partner were staying now. He had found her last night. The snow and wind had calmed down enough for him to go and see them earlier this morning. The Lady Detective looked very happy. The Partner didn't. Maybe he would go away. It wasn't likely. 

He had decided to wait for the little girl before he helped any one else. She would be at the park tomorrow afternoon. He had something special planned for the girl. He was planning something special for the Lady Detective, too. He would have to show her how worthless the Partner was first. Then he would send her on to the better place. 

* * * * 

Kenneth Irons was disappointed. He thought that Detective Pezzini would have learned not to keep anyone to close, by now. The latest news disturbed him. 

"Are you absolutely sure, Ian?" 

"I do not believe that friends greet each other in that manner." 

"First the singer, and now her partner." 

Irons said the words with great distaste. As if the syllables themselves had a bitter taste to them. 

"Should I continue to observe them?" 

"No. She will realize that with the Witchblade, there will be no room for anything else in her life. One way or another Detective McCartey will be out of her life. Be it by her own choice or some outside force." 

"You would-" 

"Do not question me. But for now, find the two you saw at the airport. I wish to know why they have returned to New York." 

Ian left Irons sitting in front of his desk at the top of the Vorshlage building. He picked up his phone and dialed Sara's cell phone. 

He need to talk to her again. 

* * * * 

It had been a while since she had seen Danny. Sara had almost become worried. He had normally shown up a regular intervals, when she wasn't about to do something extraordinarily dangerous and stupid. However, if there was one thing she could count on, it would be that Danny would pop up soon to tease her about . . . well, anything. That's why she was _almost_ worried, he hadn't let her down. 

"You just had to go for the hard core, heavy metal, tattooed surfer, huh Pez?" 

She laughed at the repeated conversation. Sara played along. 

"You think he's hot, don't you?" 

"I think Ricky Martin is hot." 

"What about Tommy Lee?" 

"He's hot too. More tattoo's, though?" 

"Jake doesn't have any tattoo's." 

"How do you know that, Pez? I told you that you had a thing for him." 

She blushed, and cursed herself for letting him set her up. 

"I asked!" 

"How does that fit into a conversation?" 

"You know Danny, you're my best friend and all, but just spit it out!" 

"I think McCartey's mood is rubbing off on you today." 

"Danny!" 

"Fine, fine. I was just trying to be Mr. Funny-dead-guy. Say, where is you're _trainee_." 

"Dante, pulled him into his office. He's been trying to get Jake to agree to reassignment, or trying to find something that I've done to break us up or get me kicked out. Not that there is anything." 

"Actually . . ." 

Sara's head shot up when Danny trailed off. Danny continued. 

"I know that you were . . . concerned about what would happen if the Captain found out. If you really want to stay teamed up with him, I'd be careful." 

"Oh come on, Danny. I can think of a dozen people who were-" 

"In the beginning, yeah. But you can't be involved with your superior, and not with your partner. I mean, you can be with Jake, there no big rule against it. But you will get split up. You know, the whole 'who are you going to save your . . . significant other or the people you're paid to protect.' " 

"Why are you telling me this?" 

"Because I'm your friend. And I don't like Dante." 

"You are not in the minority on the last part." 

"Well you know me, I follow the current trends and all. Oh and Sara?" 

"Yes?" 

"The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow." 

"Okay . . ." 

"I think I might stop by that little park on Highland." 

"Huh?" 

Danny was gone again. She hated when he did that. She was going to put a bell on him. Somehow. 

Her cell phone rang. 

"This is Pez, go." 

* * * * 

"I don't understand, Detective. I'm trying to help you. If you stay partnered up with Pezzini, I'm telling you: you won't go anywhere. She's not worth it." 

"I don't think so, sir." 

"If this is some loyalty trip you're on-" 

"No, sir." 

"Siri told me you _requested_ her as you training partner after Danny Woo was killed." 

"I've already told you, sir. Yes, I did." 

"Why?" 

"It's . . . hard to explain." 

Jake realized his error the second he ended the sentence. Shit. He didn't change is outward expression, but inside was another story. He saw the corner of the Captain's mouth turn up. At least he could predict what Dante was going to say, it was a good thing to. Jake really didn't want to screw this up. All he had to do was make sure that Dante believed him. 

"Really, Jake." 

He shrugged his shoulders. 

"You're not . . . you and her?" 

Jake laughed and rolled his eyes. 

"No!" He shook his head like the thought was ridiculous. "I mean, she's hot. But, uh, I do value my life." 

The Captain's smile disappeared. He was disappointed. That was close. It would a have screwed everything up. 

"That's true. I would be required to give you a new partner if you were." 

"Nah, I can't even picture it." 

Dante nodded his head, and sighed. 

"Go back to work, Detective." 

"Yes, sir." 

Jake closed the door behind him and exhaled. He would be very, very happy the day that Dante was out of the picture. The man was infuriating. Jake always felt the need to scream after the Captain pulled him aside for his little slam sessions. He walked back to his office and tried to clear his head. 

It was pretty quiet today. There was some kid from out of state giving the description of his missing friend to an officer. He nodded to Jake, and finished answering all if his questions. Nothing spectacular. 

Sara came rushing out of their office, and pulled him towards the door. 

"Pez?" 

"It's time to go see Kenneth Irons." 

Oh joy. 

*************************************************************************************** 

I've hit something of a block in my mind. I know what's going to happen, main parts of the story and stuff like that. But the right now, I'm having trouble with the transition portions. 

In little words: I have writer's block!!!!! :::screams and pulls at hair while trying to think of something::: 

That's why I called this chapter Purgatory. Because it goes **_absolutely no where_**. Static, stagnate, the creamy white filling . . . sorry. I got carried away. 

But don't fret, for as I have sat here. Writing this little ramble, an idea has taken form in my brain. 

I lied. I have recovered from my little impasse. 

REVIEW!!!!! 

Sign my guest book. 


	14. Triad

I didn't want to publish this chapter, but I was to go with it. 

Dear god, may I not have royally screwed myself over. 

In the journal section of my web page, I mention that I originally wasn't going to have any kind of romantic interaction between the characters. Sexual tension, oh yeah! But I wasn't going to put anybody together. After reading e-mail and reviews, I figured: why the hell not! I did it, partially, to have the room to so little side stories when I finish the main story, and because no one else was doing it. 

As for now, use your imagination. Sometimes not seeing is better than viewing. 

This is the one of the few major scene for these two characters. That's it. That's all. 

I own nothing 

*********************************************************************************************************** 

XIV. Triad. 

Ian Nottingham had tracked the two teens to a police station. He found it somewhat amusing that it was the same precinct that Sara Pezzini worked out of. The boy, Drew, had gone inside the building. His friend, who was only identified by a letter at this moment, had stayed behind. 

He wondered if they knew that he was following them. Drew had known very quickly back at the airport. Perhaps, they were too worried about their friend to notice him. 

Nottingham took a step back into the side of the building when Detective Pezzini and her partner nearly ran out of the door. He had a good notion of where they were going. As soon as their car was out of sight, he took up his former position. He had been here long a while. Ian was curious, did she not know he was here? 

Maybe he had overestimated them. The door opened and the other walked down he stairs. 

"Well?" 

"They'll do what they can." 

"Should we go to the Japanese embassy?" 

"I wouldn't bother. We'll find him faster on our own." 

She nodded her head in response, and they began to walk away. He followed them as carefully has he thought was needed. They didn't say anything to each other the entire time. Where were they going? The towering form of the Vorshlage building neared them. Drew stopped and tapped his companion on her arm. She nodded and he turned around. Ian stepped into an alley, and peered out. 

Where did the boy go? 

There was a sharp pain to his temple, and he was slammed against the brickwork of the building. 

He didn't get up. 

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini had finished questioning Kenneth Irons' about his connection to her case sometime ago. The tables had turned, however. Now he was questioning her. Jake had opted not to get involved. Even when his name came up. 

"I must say, Sara. I am disappointed in you." 

"I won't lose sleep over it, Mr. Irons." 

"You should be here. Learning to use the Witchblade. Having me train you. Not involving yourself with . . . him." 

She felt Jake stiffen beside her. 

"Mr. Irons, _I_ will decide where I should be and who I should be with." 

He looked past her. 

"How do you know that she has some misplaced affection for you, Detective McCartey? We all know she if afraid of what the dreams show her. Perhaps she is using you." 

Jake didn't say anything. 

"I'm not doing that!" 

"Are you sure, Sara? Does any body really know. If you had never known what he is, would you have even considered-" 

"Yes." 

"I don't think s-" 

An alarm on his desk went off. His secretary came running in. 

"I-I'm sorry, sir. No one could stop them." 

"Who?" 

In answer to his question, a dark-haired teen walked in. Carrying an unconscious Ian Nottingham over his shoulder. The boy walked up to him and dropped Ian at his feet. 

Irons knelt down to see if he had been damaged. There was a nasty looking bruise forming on his temple. 

"What did you do to him?" 

"Wow. You do give a damn about some one else. Put it in the book: on this day the Grinch's heart grew three sizes." 

Jake's eyes widened. It was the kid from the precinct. 

"Sara?" 

"I see it." 

The boy backed away from Irons when he stood up. 

"Who are you?" 

"It's kind of funny, really. I have all these memories of you. From my predecessor. So I can say that stupid line, uh . . . you don't know me, but I know you." 

Irons' raised an eyebrow, he had an idea of is identity. 

"How about your name?" 

"Which one?" 

"Both." 

"Drew Newell," He took a small bow. Irons' wasn't amused. "You knew 'me' as James Parke." 

"What's happened to him?" Jake finally spoke. 

Sara looked up at him. He looked like he already knew the answer to his own question, and it wasn't a good one. 

"You know him, Jake?" He didn't reply. 

"He was killed . . . about a year and a half ago." 

"So, then," Irons' interrupted. "You are, Sirous." 

"Uhh, yeah. And since you like to keep tabs on us, you know where Halo is?" 

"Haven't a clue." 

"There's a first time for everything, isn't there?" 

"You are as annoying as Mr. Parke was." 

"I make an effort for people like you, Kenny." 

Sara watched the squabble with detached interest. Something was bugging her. The Secretary had said 'them' not 'him'. Nottingham still hadn't moved. This kid must have done a number on him. 

"Where is your friend, Mr. Newell?" 

He turned his head to glance at the door behind him. The person in question walked through. She dropped the security guard that she had by the neck to the floor. 

She walked across the floor to stand next to her friend. Sara's stomach tightened. She recognized the girl. 

"I-I know you." She stammered. 

The girl looked towards her and spoke in a tired voice. 

"You must be mistaken. Ms?" 

"Detective Pezzini." 

"Detective Pezzini. I know him," she motioned to Drew, "I know those two," Irons and Nottingham, " and I know Jake. But I have never met you." 

Sara took her hand out her her pocket, and the Witchblade began to glow and hum. It had never done that before. It felt like it   
was . . . happy? 

Drew whistled, "I'd be careful with that thing. Put an eye out with it." 

"Never mind, Detective. We have met." The girl corrected herself. 

"Ahh, Iceani. You seem much better than the last time I saw you." 

"Oh yeah!," Drew laughed, "Last time she was here she was one second way from separating your neck from your shoulders. Of course she wasn't in the best frame of mind at the moment. But the part with you: that was a good memory." 

"Drew." 

"Sorry." 

He went and sat on Irons' desk. 

"Mr. Irons, I assume that you want something. Or else you wouldn't have bothered to send Ian to keep an eye on us." 

"I was simply curious." 

"What else?" 

He didn't answer. Irons knew better. 

"At least you know you can't lie to me." 

"The price of being the embodiment of truth, I presume." 

"It gets me into trouble. Now, What else?" 

Sara didn't take her eyes off the girl. Jake took her hand and pulled her further away from the two of them. 

"Are you still obsessed with that stunt I pulled in Germania? That was nearly fifteen hundred years ago." She almost sounded like she was joking around with him. 

"Perhaps." 

"I'm not what you want me to be, Mr. Irons. None of us are." 

"And what would that be." 

"The Blade doesn't come from us, it's not mine either. Let me tell you something. My . . . armor had changed since I first had it. In the beginning, there was some jewelry that accompanied it. A whole of four pieces. As a thank you to Pharaoh's wife, for her help, I gave her one of the ornaments off of my wrist guard. It was passed down for centuries, and when the Romans came it went to them. The, uh, 'bracelet' had no use what so ever. It was for aesthetic purposes only. There was nothing special about it. It was just attractive to the eye. Nothing was done to it. It still sits in the Capitoline Museum in Rome. It is still there, I know. I saw it two weeks ago." 

"But you-" 

"I know. I was there, remember. I just can, okay. I have no idea what the Witchblade's purpose is. I don't really care. It's only another weapon an my disposal, Mr. Irons. And, uh, one day I will make sure that no one uses it, like you have, again. It's just not top priority right now." 

"You can't do that." 

"Can't I? You don't own it. You may have paid for it, in more ways than one. But you are not the best person to have any sort of control over objects like that." 

"And why not?" 

"Narcissism isn't always a good thing. Especially for people like you, Mr. Irons." 

She looked at Drew and turned around. He slid off the desk and followed her. He stuck his head back in the office. 

"Have a nice day." He smiled and left. 

Sara watched Kenneth Irons clench and unclench his fists. He was angry. It was time for them to go. She wanted to find that Iceani girl. Irons kneeled back down to try and wake Nottingham. He ignored her. 

"Sara, let's go." Jake whispered in her ear. 

She let Jake take her hand and lead her out of the office and to the elevator. 

"Jake?" 

"Hmm?" 

"What he said wasn't true. I'm no-" 

"I know." 

"How?" 

"Just do." 

"You know those two kids?" 

"They are anything but kids. I ran into them in Japan. I was pretty much half way dead, and they went out of their way to help me." 

"Those two?" 

"Sort of. James Parke is dead now. I didn't meet Iceani until later, sort of." 

"Who are they?" 

"It'll take a while. I'll tell you later. They won't be a problem, Pez." 

"They don't like Irons'. Puts them on my okay list. And I want to find that girl. She was in a dream I had." 

Jake nodded his head. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the main floor lobby. They were waiting for them. 

"Hey, man!" 

Sara and Jake walked up to them. 

"I'll leave you alone, Melissa." Drew walked out the front doors and motioned for Jake to go with him. 

"Can yo-" 

"I wish I could tell you something you don't already know, Detective. There are very few authorities on objects like that," a breath of laughter. 

"But you must know something. In that dream you knew what you were doing." 

"It was instinct. You should follow it, you know. That thing gives you a few more than you were born with. Who knows, it is similar to my armor, but it's not from us. If I ever learn anything, I'll tell you. I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you, Detective. We didn't plan on crashing Irons' office. We're looking for our friend. We don't have time to play with him. Last thing we need is Nottingham following us." 

Sara nodded her head. Iceani began to walk towards the revolving doors. Sara followed her outside to where the others were. 

"You could warm it up a bit, Drew. It wouldn't hurt." 

"What was that, Jake? 

"Pez. I was asking him," he pointed to Drew, "If he'd raise the temperature." 

"I don't think he can do that, Jake." 

"Yes I can," Drew smiled. Sara looked at him like he was out of his mind, "Oh, what did you think my name meant. Think of the cloud." 

"Let's go, Drew" 

She took his arm and drug him away from them. Sara turned to Jake with a look that meant he had explaining to do. 

"What?!" 

"The weather, Jake?" 

"You wondered why I wasn't too surprised to se the Witchblade, Sara. I've seen weirder." 

"Jake . . . " 

"It's getting late. We should head out." 

She waited for an explanation. 

"Sara, I told you. Later." 

"Fine. Let's go." 

He fell in step behind her. 

"Don't be mad at me. I never expected to run into them again." 

"I'm not mad. I'm curious." 

"No, Pez. You're mad. It's the beginning stages, but you're going to yell at me sometime today." 

He unlocked her door and went around to let himself in. 

"It's later." 

He sighed. 

"Yeah. It is." 

* * * * 

Tomorrow morning was the day. 

The little girl would be at the park. He had learned that her name was Mary. Mary was a nice name. He had accidentally told Seiji about Mary and Seiji had gotten very angry. He had nearly torn all of his restraints off before the medicine took effect. He wondered how strong Seiji really was. 

He had heard from the white-haired man early this morning. He had found some more people for him to help. So, he had gone and found them. He was looking forward to helping the pretty Indian lady. And there was the meat carver at the little butcher shop. He could really do something with him. He was big and there would be a lot to work with. It was going to be so much fun, but it would be a lot of work too. 

Maybe he should write it all down. 

No It was to early for that. He needed to watch the new people for a little longer. Right now, he was getting ready to go find the Lady Detective again. It was too bad that her work had no set schedule. He still couldn't figure out when to take her. He wonted both of them. He needed ot get rid of the Partner. Maybe, since they liked each other, if he took one the other would follow. He had felt her earlier, in the big shiny building. The Atlanta girl was there. And another that he didn't know. He was strong, he could see the silver-black of his aura from the ground. It was an odd color. 

He walked down the snow covered side walk towards the hotel that the Lady Detective was at. He couldn't watch her, but he didn't need his eyes to see. He ignored the people around him. Said hello when he was told a such. A nod here and there. So many unworthy ones. They had no idea how bad they would have it. But it wasn't their fault. They hadn't been chosen. Not like the other's were. He often wondered if there was a set number of seers. He could plan to help them all, then. But he didn't really know, and it wasn't such a big deal. If he finished is work, it would be a surprise. 

Then he could help himself. 

When he had sent all of the others on. He though about what the better place was like. It must be pretty. It had to be better than this world. This place had things that amazed him, but it was still so dirty. 

Not blessed. 

Sometimes he hated it. Sometimes he liked it. All of his things were here, and the seers were here too. They made this world brighter. There was no fighting in the better place. No hating. No bad things there. Not like here. There were too many bad things, too many bad people. It made his skin crawl. 

He helped this world out too, by getting rid of the bad people. 

He was at the hotel. He sat on a bench and closed his eyes. 

The Lady Detective felt like she had been angry, but it was over. Now she was . . . he didn't know the word for it. But she wasn't angry anymore. He didn't understand girls. The Partner was still with her. 

They had to be apart sometime. 

He walked to the pay phone and dialed the white-haired man's number. 

Maybe he would know what to do. 

He always knows what to do. 


	15. GELIDUS

Did you know that the "?!" is a proper punctuation? I can't remember the name, but it's an interesting fact. 

For the person who was confused: I already have. Go back and skim over the last few chapters. 

Feed the review-a-saurus. Or it will eat you. :::Chomp::: 

I own nothing. 

************************************************************************************** 

XV. GELIDUS 

Seiji felt like he was burning up. He had never been one to get sick, so he wasn't used to running any kind of fever. This was a good thing, however. Despite the discomfort he was in, it was a very good thing. The man was preoccupied with a way to 'help' the seers and the Lady Detective, killing the Partner and others like him, and, in the end, disposing of the unworthy ones. 

For the past two days, he had forgotten to sedate Seiji. 

And now his body was going through withdrawal. 

Seiji pushed the feeling aside. He didn't have time to be distracted by minor things like that. He was putting all of his energy into concentrating on two familiar thought patterns. Three really, if you counted his captor. He had been tracking him for sometime now. Seiji was searching for a friend who was his brother in every way except in the genetic sense. It was proving to be difficult. Perhaps the same thing that kept Halo out of his reach was blocking out Drew, as well. He didn't even bother with Iceani, he had never been able to talk to her mind Seiji. knew they were in New York. Where, was the problem. The second was someone he had only known for a very brief amount of time. The Partner, Jake McCartey. It had been a long time, though, and the way people think change. He thought that he had read his name in the paper; he was a homicide detective now. He wasn't as sure as he had been before, about McCartey being in New York. He was looking anyway. 

Seiji wasn't trying to 'talk' with either of them. That would take more than he had at the moment, but that didn't mean that he couldn't influence one of them. He knew where the man was going. He had a tendency to talk about what he was doing. 

His brow furrowed. It was was becoming more difficult to focus. He had made it through tougher, and he didn't want another person to die. 

Seiji's eyes flew open. 

He did it. 

He didn't know who, but he did it. 

Seiji promptly passed out. 

* * * * 

It would be time soon. He was so excited that he could finally help the little girl. He had been waiting so long to send Mary to the others. She would like it there. He knew she would. There, she wouldn't have to grow up and learn how truly disgusting and perverted this world was. Mary could keep her innocence. She would always be a child in the other place. With no worries that adults had to face. But then, there were no worries or troubles in the better place. 

He would make sure her picture was the prettiest thing he did. So she would be as happy as he was when it was finished. 

He smiled when he saw Mary and her mother. 

The mother would have to go. She wasn't one of the few. It was too bad, they were both very pretty. He would give the mother a picture too, so Mary wouldn't be sad to see her go. 

He needed to wait a little longer. He would get them right before they left. 

Then he could move on to the others. 

* * * * 

Danny had been right. It was a nice day. A nice two days, really. It had warmed up a bit, and the snow had stopped falling. The sky was nearly clear. 

Sara Pezzini sipped at her coffee on the bench while she waited for her partner to get through the vendor's line. The Captain was in a bad mood again. Well, that was nothing too unusual, but it was worse today. She didn't want to be around to see what he might do, so she had gone to get coffee. As far way from the station as she could walk. 

Jake sat down next to her and let his drink cool off. 

"We can't stay out here the whole day." 

"I know, Jake. We have a bad guy to catch." 

"Yep." 

They drank in silence until he broke he broke the moment with a question. 

"What?" 

" . . . What?" 

"I thought I heard my name." 

She laughed at him and pulled him out of the bench. 

"Let's go back to the station, and the psychiatrist you thought was so 'smart' can see what the voices want." 

Jake rolled his eyes at her. 

"I forgot to laugh." 

Sara looped her arm through Jake's and they walked in the direction of the station. She stumbled to halt when he stopped walking a few minutes later. She looked up to see him staring down a side street. 

"Jake?" 

"We need to go this way." He pointed down the street. 

"No," she said, somewhat confused, "we have to go this way. To the office." 

"I know. But we _have_ to go this way. I don't know why." 

Jake started down Highland street, leaving Sara behind. She shook her head and followed him. He was walking at a fast pace. 

"What's the hurry?" 

"I don't know." 

There wasn't anything wrong with him, was there? This wasn't typical Jake behavior. She bumped into another person. Sara turned to apologize, only to see the retreating figure of Ian Nottingham. He must have recovered from yesterday. At the moment she didn't care that she was being followed. Sara was more concerned bout her partner's change in demeanor at the moment. 

Jake sped up. 

"Jake?!" 

In the park up ahead a woman screamed. 

They both took off running toward the sound. She had a hard time keeping up with Jake. He was fast. Being taller than her didn't help much, too. A man ran across the street with a young girl in his arms. A blonde woman followed, yelling for help. She and Jake followed the man and woman. 

"Police!! Halt!!" Sara screamed at the man. He took a look behind him and kept running. She knew where he was headed. The street teed of at a bridge that ran across a small portion of the river. From there he could only go back the way he came, or to the highway. 

The Witchblade began to glow. She felt so cold all of the sudden. The feeling lifted as soon as it had come. She ignored it and continued after the man. 

She could see the end of the street ahead. The man slowed down and looked behind him again. In his distraction, he missed Nottingham, who had came out of no where and grabbed the girl out of his arms. What was he doing back here? 

The man kept going, and slowed down again. The woman couldn't stop in time and ran into him. He took her by the hair and backed up against the railing of the bridge. 

"You people don't understand!!!" The man yelled. 

He had a knife out against the woman's throat. Jake had stopped several feet in front of him, and Sara had moved to the side of the man. She kept an eye on Nottingham. She couldn't figure out why he had helped her. 

"Let go of her, now!" Sara ordered 

Jake had pulled his gun and taken aim. She wondered how good a shot he really was. 

The man looked at her. And smiled. He was nuts. 

"The Lady Detective. I've been wanting to meet you." 

"Sir, put your weapon down and step way from the woman." She didn't acknowledge him. 

"Why do you do it?" He ignored her order, "You're not like the others. You're one of the few." 

Sara glanced at her partner. He hadn't taken his eyes off of the man. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ian shrug. The man continued on. 

"You should be with the others. I need to help them. I was trying to help Mary," the woman sobbed at the mention of her daughter, "But the mother didn't want me to help her." 

What? Help her? . . . . . . Oh no. 

"You're like Mary, Lady Detective. I know." 

"Let go of me." The woman was crying now. 

"You know what you are! And you lower yourself by hiding behind the Negative! The Negations are all bad people!!" 

He knew about her? 

"Sir, I will ask one more time! Put down your weapon and back away from the woman!" 

The man's face fell. 

"Oh well. There are others to help." 

He took the woman's shoulders and pushed her. Jake saw the movement and dropped his gun. The woman went over the bridge. Jake jumped after her. The river was still half frozen. 

"Jake!" 

Sara ran to the side of the bridge to see the both of them fall into the slow moving water. She looked back up. The man was gone. 

"Damn it!!!" 

She fumbled for her cell phone. It was missing. She must have dropped earlier. A glove covered hand held one out to her. Ian was still holding the little girl. 

"Why are you helping?" She rushed while she dialed. 

"I am doing what I am told, Sara." 

She didn't have time to answer. The 911 operator had come over the line. 

"911 how m-" 

"I have an officer and woman down on the Highland and Cross bridge!" 

"They're on their way." 

She found the side of the overpass and slid down the bank. Where were they? He should be up by now. A sound caught her attention and she turned to see her partner half dragging the woman out of the water. By the time she made it to their side they were completely out of the river, and they were both on the ground. 

The sirens came alive in the distance. They needed to get here soon. It started to snow again. 

Sara checked the woman. Good, she was still breathing. She turned an pulled Jake's head into her lap. He was too cold. 

The sirens got louder. 

It was taking too long. 

* * * * 

Sara stared at the graveyard from the car window. She hated those places. She knew too many people who were there. The car moved when the light turned green, and the graveyard faded into the distance. She turned her head to speak to the driver. 

"Hey, Joe, thanks for coming. I didn't have a way to get around since my bike's at home and the car is at the station." 

"No problem, Sara. The least I could do." 

She smiled at her former boss. She missed him. 

"Yeah, I just want to get back to the hospital. The kicked me out since I wasn't family, and after Dante and I got into it." 

"They can be like that, can't they? Don't want people disturbing the patients." 

"I'm his partner. It should be close enough for them. What do they know?" 

"Is McCartey awake yet?" 

"When I left he wasn't. The woman, uh, Kate Morgan is. The doctors say that since her clothes were mainly synthetic materials she dried off quicker than Jake. So much for cotton." 

"But he'll be all right?" 

"Yeah. He has a few burns from the cold, and he might feel really tired for about a week, but he'll be fine." 

"That's good." 

Joe turned into the precinct parking lot and let Sara out next to her car. 

"I'll se you around, Joe. Thank you, again, for the ride." 

"I'm never too busy for you, Sara. Now, hurry up so you can get back." 

"Bye." 

She closed the door and watched him pull out on to the main road. She unlocked the driver's side door and started the engine. The hospital wasn't that far, but she didn't want to be gone that long. Who knows what would happen. Maybe Dante would yell at her for not sticking with her partner, this time. He had already screamed at her for letting her guy get away. What was she supposed to do, huh? Go looking for him and leave Jake and Mary's mother to freeze to death? The Captain's response made her want to break his neck: 

If need be. 

Bastard. 

She followed the signs to emergency room parking and hunted for a space. Danny had mentioned that park. He must have known something. He could have given her more of a hint. She would talk to him about it the next time he made an appearance. She pulled into a space and put the car in park. 

The doors swung open and The Captain came outside. They glared at each other in passing. She really hated that man. How did people end up like that? She didn't want to think about it. 

Sara walked down the white hall way in the emergency room until she found the right room. In the far end of the room, the person in the bed turned his head to see who was there. 

"Pez." He sounded so tired. 

"Hey, Jake." 

"How the woman?" 

"She's fine. She's with her daughter." She pulled up a chair next to him. 

"Did you hear what that guy said?" 

"I was there." 

"It's our guy." 

"Yes it is. We have an all points bulletin put on him, and a composite drawing. After you jumped over the side of the bridge he took off. I didn't see him." 

"Did Nottingham?" 

"I don't know . . . I haven't decided if what you did was brave or stupid." 

"Little bit of both. I didn't think the water would be so cold." 

She gave him a half smile. It must be a thing with him: to worry about someone else over his own problems. 

"Enough of that, Jake. How do you feel?" 

"I'm tired." 

"You sound like it." 

"Yeah . . . I'm really cold, too." He looked down at the bandages on his arms like he hadn't noticed them before. "What's up with that?" 

"Burns. From the ice." 

"Oh." 

"When did you wake up?" 

"I don't know." 

He was falling asleep on her. 

"They told me that I can take you out of here if you want." 

Jake nodded his head. She leaned over and kissed him. 

"I'll be right back." 

* * * * 

He stumbled in circles and pulled at his hair. He was mad at himself. How could he?! He wasn't careful! He was supposed to be careful! 

He kicked the wall next to him and screamed. 

How was he supposed to help people if he wasn't careful?!?!?! The white-haired man wasn't happy to hear about what had happened. Now the police knew what he looked like, but they didn't know where he was. No one knew. Not even the white-haired man. 

"No. No no no no no." He sobbed. 

He was a failure. He wasn't able to help Mary. Now she would have to stay here with her unworthy mother. And he had been so pleased to see the Lady Detective that he had gotten sloppy. He should have stuck around to make sure the Partner and the mother had died, but he had left. 

He backed up against the wall and slid down it. He had to calm down. There were still lots of people who needed his attention. He knew that he would never get to all the seers, but it was frustrating. He shouldn't have gone to such an open place. It was too close to where the police worked anyway. 

He wasn't invincible. He wasn't infallible. Humanity had it's limitations. Ego was one of them. He should have known better. He sighed. He would learn from his mistake. That's what mistakes were for. His mother had taught him that. He wouldn't make any more mistakes like that again. 

Everything would be fine. 

He smiled at the thought. He began to hum the song that his mother had sung to him when he was little. It was the same one he sang to the people he sent on. It always made him happy when he heard it. 

Yes. 

There would be no more problems. 

* * * * 

Jake had made Sara take him to the office instead of home. He was still dead tired, but he didn't want to go back to his place. They had decided that this guy could find them wherever they went. They got rid of the hotel room. He could never stay in one for very long. He didn't like them. 

The moment he walked through the door the office greeted him with applause and some obnoxious whistling. He gave them a tired smile. 

"It's the hero of the hour." Officer Smitty slapped him on the back. 

"You know me. I have to be the center of attention." 

"You sound like you haven't slept in a year, man." 

"I feel like it, dude." 

"I'll let the 'dude' slide today. Say, man, what were you thinking?" 

"You didn't know, Smitty? That was my audition for Bay Watch." He joked around even when he was about to fall asleep on his feet. 

"Yeah yeah. Like they'd want you. I, uh, think your partner is getting a little impatient." 

Jake looked up to see Sara with her arms crossed over her chest. 

"See you around, Smitty." 

"Get well, man." 

He walked into their office and shut the door behind him. He sat down and put his head on his desk. Maybe he should have gone home. He was still cold too. The door opened and shut behind him and something was placed on his desk. 

Coffee. At five in the afternoon. Cool. 

"Thanks, Pez." 

"Finish it. Then I take you home." 

"Sara. I don't-" 

"Dante's orders, rookie." 

"Don't do that now." 

Jake sat up and reached for the styrofoam cup that she had brought him. It helped keep the chill that had set in his body away for the moment. 

"They've been running the composite of our guy through their computerized data banks. Maybe they'll find something." 

"Maybe. Um, what about the paper work?" 

"I'm bringing that with me when I take you home. It's all in my bag and ready to go." 

"Then why did we come here?" 

"You told me too, Jake. Remember?" 

"Oh." 

"Let's get you out of here." 

Sara grabbed the keys off of her desk, and helped Jake to his feet. She guided him outside and unlocked the passenger side door. He leaned back into the seat and let the day catch up with him. 

***************************************************************************************************** 

Latin again: cold, frosty, icy, freezing. I'm in a title lag here. 

I'm leaving for Chicago. I won't be back until Tuesday. 

My brain should have recovered by then. 

REVIEW!!!!!! 


	16. Heaven

I have returned from my conference in Chicago. I'm all fired up . . . to sell knives (Whooo CUTCO!!!). I have on odd profession. 

Thanks for all the nice things you all said. When I found out that David Chokachi was on Bay Watch (I never got the point of that show), I had to make fun of it some where. Oh, come one!!! It's an easy laugh!!! As for the "second" story line . . . there is none. If you go back and read the long preamble, I said that I used Seiji because he fit in with all the people that "he" is going after. The other two are made up characters. There ARE drawings of Iceani and Sirous, but they were destroyed when my friend's house flooded. I remembered that her armor had pieces that resembled a cross between the tv and comic versions of the Blade (My friend made it look like something out of a Xena or Hercules show :p. . . he's an awesome artist though.) I just did that little dream to give Sara, yet another, dead end when it comes to the Witchblade's past. The story on those three is: they were all going to be in New York and meet up. All the other two are doing is looking for Seiji. I might mention them a few more times, they will be there at the very end. And I might use them in a scene that is just between them and Jake. 

So, no underlying story with that thing, though. 

You know what. I just watched this weeks episode and they got ahead of me. . . They stole one of my ideas! Sure the writers had it before I did . . . and put it into use before I did . . . I'll stop now. Warning: if you **_ever_** see something that resembles one of the scenes out of Periculum, it is pure coincidence. 

You should know that I originally intended to have the mother live, the girl die, and I was going to off McCartey there too. But I didn't like how the chapter turned out, so I changed it. I keep warning you all that I have an itch to kill off a major character. I still don't know. I might. I might not. :::evil smile::: 

If I get time, I'll write about it on my web page. I might even put the, unfinished, original chapter up. Time permitting. 

Feed the review-a-saurus. Or I'll send him to eat you. He likes human . . . it tastes of chicken. Sorry. I had to say it. 

I own nothing. 

*********************************************************************************************** 

XVI. Heaven 

_The sunsets were always beautiful here. The different colors on the water had always made her smile. Especially the color red. Her father had told her that the colors were the gods way of painting the road to heaven in the sky. So the newly dead would not lose their way and end up wandering the land as restless spirits._

_Father had not been pleased when she told him that she could see the one's who had lost their way. He was even less pleased after she told him that she would often speak with them._

_He had locked her in the wooden cage that hung above the cliff valley as punishment for being cursed._

_The colors there were magnificent. The fire mountain's smoke had turned the sky lavender, ocher, and varying shaded of crimson. She had almost enjoyed her time there. At dusk and dawn, at least. The days, however, were unbearable. It was the warm season, and the added heat of the fire mountains did not help._

_Father's guards had come three days later to take her down. She did not see the lost one's for many weeks after that. But she could hear them._

_In the back her mind._

_Whispering._

_Her curse had nearly been forgotten, until one of her father's guards fell to the ground one evening._

_They built hid funeral pyre after the medicine man had examined him. The guard had a bad heart. He had never shown it before. It must come with age. But others soon fell. All with bad hearts. It was a sickness. It made the heart weak._

_It plagued the nation for the longest time. And it was always someone she had been with. After a few days, the sickness would visit them, and another would be dead. The medicine man had noticed the pattern, and called her a demon child._

_The news spread quickly._

_The chieftain's eldest daughter was a walking devil. The people feared that they had displeased their gods. What if there was no rain because of her? Would they all die from the sickness? So many questions._

_Too many fears._

_The people had thrown rocks at her upon her appearance to them._

_Her father had ordered her killed._

_To save the nation._

_She had fled for many days. At first she had headed to the water. But her father's personal guards had been waiting there for her. They had not seen her, though. It was night, and her skin was dark. She could almost not be found in the dark._

_She had returned to the cliff valley. She was tired and bleeding. She had never fought before, but she had beaten the guard. She was no devil. Not a cursed woman. Her father had taught her to be strong._

_She was._

_But also, only mortal._

_She had been running for days now. With no food and little water. The guards were making their way to the cliff ridge. She couldn't fight them all. She was only one person. To win against twelve would be a miracle._

_The sun was setting again._

_A fitting time to die._

_The rays of the sun caught something nestled between two rocks. She edged her way over to pick up the strange silver object. The moment she touched it, the whispering grew to a roar in her ears. The guards men rounded the turn and spotted her. She pivoted to see them begin their assault._

_The whispering grew to screaming in her mind. The word spun and broke apart before her. She shut her eyes, not wanting to watch. An eternity later, her eyes opened._

_The world was still there. Not shattered, and the whispering had quieted._

_All the guard were dead._

_She ran from the cliff valley until she could see the edge of the plains. She took shelter in a small grove of trees, and cried. She grew numb from the sadness and her tears faded. She felt pain._

_She looked down to see her wound nearly healed, and others that she had not had before were closing rapidly. She went to touch one with her hand._

_What was this?_

_Wrapped around her wrist was something that resembled the silver bangle she had found earlier._

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini's eyes fluttered open. She lifted her head off of Jake's coffee table. She had brought Jake back here after they had gone to the office. She had gotten him up the stairs to his place, along with the bag of papers and his laptop. He had managed to stay awake long enough to get changed before he collapsed on his bed. Hypothermia really did a number on the human body. 

She pulled the covers over him and left the bedroom to do finish up the written end of things. But the monotony had gotten to her. Sara had put her head down for a moment, and sleep had followed. 

This was the third dream that had not been about the woman's death. The first two had been in the middle of her time with the Blade, and this was clearly the beginning. This one hadn't been like the last few, either. It didn't have the constant lust for battle, and didn't leave her covered in sweat. 

The dream still exhausted her, but it was nice to have a change. 

Maybe she should try to find out who these women were. If she wasn't going to ask Irons for answers, she might as well start looking on her own. The Bowman kid could help too. Her mind was much too foggy to think about that right now. She stretched the kinks out of her neck and grabbed the pen she had dropped on the floor. 

"Sara?" A sleepy male voice came from behind her. 

She looked behind her to see Jake leaning against the frame of the bedroom door. 

"You're up. Do you feel better now?" 

"Come to bed." 

Sara smirked at him. He didn't sound as bad as he had at earlier, but for some reason, she thought it was funny that he had gotten up to tell her that. Maybe she could get him to do some of the paper work while he was still upright. 

"I . . ._we_ should finish this, Jake." 

He didn't even blink. It looked like she'd be getting writer's cramp later on tonight. He left his place by the door and came to sit beside her, and rested against the couch. 

"You going to stay up with me since you won't help me?" 

"Come to bed." 

She sighed. 

"I need to finish this, Jake." 

He reached over and shut the folder that was in front of her. 

"Jake!" 

"It's cold." 

"Get another blanket. If this isn't done, I'll have to face Dante. There is a reason why that is his last na-" 

She was cut off when Jake quickly moved to kissed her. It wasn't a bad way to stop talking. A little warning would be good though. 

"Come to bed." He whispered. 

"But the-" 

Another. 

"Please." 

She nodded her head and forgot about the file. 

* * * * 

He had been right. The white-haired man was not happy about him being seen. It would interfere with his work. He couldn't take people during that day anymore. It had to be before it got light out side. It would make it easier, and would hide him from the police. He was sad. This would slow him down. It was that many more people that he wouldn't be able to help because he had gotten sloppy. 

The white-haired man had told him to wait again. He should use this time to make sure he learned his lesson. He was even more sad when he learned that Mary's mother and the Partner were still alive. He wasn't as sad that the girl's mother was still living. Mary would need her now that he couldn't help her. But the Partner . . . 

The look on the Lady Detective's face said everything. When he mentioned the Negations, she had looked over to him. He, on the other hand, never moved except to save the woman. 

The river was half frozen and the wind had picked up. He was hoping that the cold would have killed the Partner, then there would be one less bad person to deal with later on. The Partner had to have come close, but not close enough. He would be careful, and he would get rid of him. Then send the Lady Detective on. He was determined to get it right. 

While he was waiting he might as well entertain himself. He had given Seiji his medicine, so he was asleep again. He wouldn't be able to talk with him. For a few days he didn't look too good, but after he gave Seiji the medicine he started to look like himself. 

He didn't have anyone to talk to, and he couldn't leave for a few days. He sat on the table and swung his legs back and forth while he decided what to do. Humming his favorite song to himself the whole time. 

Ohhh. He knew what to do. 

He searched around in a large box and brought out a container and a book. 

He loved to color, and it had been such a long time. He sat down on the floor and chose an orange crayon from his container. He hummed while he colored in the picture on the page. The song suddenly stopped. He had an idea. It was a good idea, for the Italian woman he found in the bakery shop. 

He leapt up to call the white-haired man. 

He was sure to love it. 

* * * * 

"They have returned to their own homes." 

Kenneth Irons did not reply to his ward's statement. He already knew this information. He was more interested in another fact at the moment. 

"Did she use the Blade to heal him?" 

"No. She did not." 

Good. That would reek all sorts of havoc with his plans if she had. He would have lost some of his ability to peer in on the Witchblade to that worthless surfer if she had. That was the last thing he needed. Detective Pezzini was hard enough to deal with without outside interference of any kind. 

The phone at his desk rang. 

"Please leave me, Ian." 

Nottingham nodded his head and left Irons to his business. 

"Hello . . . of course . . . I see . . . a very good one . . . it should work . . . good day." 

He hung up the phone, and went back to pondering Sara Pezzini. 

* * * * 

The Captain had called his place five times now. Every time it was the same message in his machine: "McCartey, find your partner and get your butts down to the precinct." Or something along those lines. Jake knew where Sara was. Actually she was the reason why he hadn't answered his calls. She had decided to give him one of those 'good morning' kisses of hers. Not that he was complaining, mind you. The Captain's calls had become annoying. Didn't that guy know he was busy? 

The more important factor was that, at the moment, he wasn't cold. 

And Jake didn't want to move. 

The phone rang again. He didn't like that man. No one did, really. But he had to play his little part to get in with him. He reluctantly broke away from Sara, and picked up his phone just as the machine picked up. 

"McCartey." 

"Where are you, Detective?" 

"I just got out of the shower, sir. Why? I'm not late." 

"There are a few messages from me on your machine. I called to get you and your partner in here. There's work to be done, Detective." 

"Have you called Pez?" 

"Yes. She doesn't answer either. Find her and get to work." 

A dial tone came over the line. He hung up. 

"I guess we should get moving." 

He nodded. 

"If you hadn't interrupted me, you wouldn't have to move, Jake." 

"I didn't want to keep hearing his voice right there. It was creepy." 

His comment made her smile. She slid out of bed and went to take a shower. Jake sat up slowly. The movement made him remember the freezer burns on his body. He was going to be hurting for a while. Great, he was on fire and cold at the same time. He waited for Sara to leave the bathroom so he could go next. Jake went over the previous day in his head. The man didn't look familiar. There were a lot of people in the world, he couldn't recognize all of them. 

But something about him reminded Jake of something. He had a hunch, but he wasn't going to say anything until he had checked it out. The other thing that bothered him was how he knew where to go. He had never felt like that before. It bothered him. The water shut off. A few moments later Sara stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed on toweling off her hair. 

"Your turn." 

"Thanks." 

He brushed past her and shut the door. He turned the water up to as hot as he could stand stepped in the shower. He couldn't decide whether the heat was a good thing or a bad thing. At least he healed fairly quickly. He finished his shower and got ready to leave. 

Jake stepped out of his bedroom to see Sara watching the news and talking on her cell phone. 

So the saying was true, there was no rest for the wicked. She turned to look at him when she hit the 'end' button on her phone. 

"Jake, we need to get going. I have an extra helmet on my bike. We'll get there quicker that way."" 

"He didn't wait long, did he?" 

"No, he didn't." 

He turned off the television and followed his partner out the door. 


	17. Sanguine

Hey! No one's gotten any action . . . yet. So, no. Irons did not have one of his little 'oh . . . that's nice . . .' sessions. And my definition of a major character is some one with their name in the opening credits. 

Go sign my guest book. 

::::review-a-saurus chases the humans down who did not do their duty. It's buffet time!::: 

******************************************************************************************************************** 

XVII. Sanguine 

"He's out done himself this time, hasn't he?" 

Sara Pezzini could only nod her head. She had left the bakery a few minutes after they had walked in. She thought she was going to throw up. Jake had followed her to make sure she was all right. She was kneeling in the snow in the alley next to the crime scene with her partner rubbing her back. The nausea slowly subsided. 

Jake was right. Their guy had out done himself. Literally. The owner of the Italian baker had been twisted and shoved into one of the ovens in the kitchen. And cooked. The smell of burnt human flesh didn't sit too well with her. How could Jake stand it? She lifted her head to look at him. He wasn't as unaffected as she thought. He was looking a little green. 

But that wasn't the worst part. Sophia Spertnetti's fifteen year old daughter had found her mother this morning. Along with her four year old brother. They had no other family in the States. Social Services had come and taken them a few minutes ago. 

From inside the building the forensic team hooted and hollered. 

"Oh yeah, baby!!! Found a boot print in the flour!!!" 

Sara let Jake help her to her feet. 

"Better?" 

"Yeah, yeah. It's just really nasty in there. I don't know how the techies do it." 

He shrugged and led her back inside. Tim Rykles and his team were doing their best to not disturb the flour on the floor. 

"Hey you guy. Try not to move too fast. We don't want this thing blown away." 

"What have you got, Tim?" Sara asked. 

"Well. We have our prints all over the place," he pointed to the solid marks on the floor, "But our shoes don't have any tread on them. There are the prints from the kids' shoes over there. And the mother wore heals. But this one," He took another picture of the print, "this one comes off of some kind of combat boot." 

"Military issue?" Jake added in. 

"Don't know yet. We'll have to run it. It could be. It could also be a set that some one picked up at the Army/Navy Surplus store. I mean," He made his way to the two detectives, "there are some objects that are never released to the public. I can tell you that he wore a size twelve and a half." 

"The minute you find out come and find us, all right?" 

"Sure thing, McCartey. Listen we have to wrap it up. We've been holding the coroner at bay so we could get this thing while it was pretty much undisturbed. Have, uh, have you two seen everything you need to see?" 

Jake looked over at Sara and raised an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, Tim. We have." 

"Well then, I'll find you guys when we figure out where this thing came from. Good luck on your end." 

"You too." 

Tim began to walk back into the building, "Oh, nice work yesterday, Jake." 

"Thanks, dude." 

Sara handed him her spare helmet. He didn't take it. 

"Jake?" 

"Huh, oh." He took the molded thermoresin out of her hands. "Sorry." 

"What are thinking about?" 

"Military issue." 

"Care to expand on that thought." 

"I've been tossing something around in my head since yesterday." 

"Well," She leaned against her bike, "spill it, partner." 

"There was something familiar about that guy yesterday. Not . . . not how he looked or anything like that. It was how he moved, how he held his knife. I know it sounds funny but-" 

"No. It doesn't. Keep going." 

He nodded his head. 

"We have a dead navy SEAL and a military issued boot print." 

"And a missing operative who was in the same unit and the same project that involved people with mental abilities." Sara finished. 

"Right. So, I think it's time to find out what happened to James Broody." 

* * * * 

Bruno Dante walked out of his office to see Detective Pezzini balancing two cups of coffee and a stack of folders. He walked over and picked the mugs off of the top of the files. She looked at him with wide eyes. 

"I hope that you are here to get work done, Detective." 

"Jake and I just had a break, sir." 

"Oh, good for you. Of course you wouldn't need a break if you had caught the guy yesterday." 

"Sir. I looked own to see Jake and the girl's mother fall into he river. When I looked up, he was gone. I've told you all of this!" 

He motioned to her office door. He followed her and shut the door behind him. 

"Morning, Captain." 

"McCartey." He set the cups down on the desk. He noticed that Jake was wearing more than usual. 

"Still cold, Jake?" 

He nodded while he took a drink of the hot brown liquid. 

"Is there anything else, Captain." Sara tried to keep the venom out of her voice. 

"No. Get to work, Pezzini." 

He left the small room, and a pissed of woman. 

Dante smiled. He always looked forward to riling her up. 

It made his day. 

* * * * 

Jake watched his partner all but slam the files down on her desk. She sat down and almost ripped the the cover off the first file. On her wrist, the Witchblade as glowing an angry red. 

"Pez?" 

She didn't answer him. She continued to tear through the pile of papers in front of her. 

"Sara. Calm down." 

"I am calm!" 

Jake flinched. 

"Of course you are. That file is a real bitch, isn't it?" 

Sara looked up at him through her lashes then moved the rest of her head to follow the motion. She sighed. 

"That man . . . do you know what he told me to do?!" 

"No. I don't." He spoke softly. 

"He told me I should have left you and Kate Morgan! Just . . . leave you there to freeze to death! How can he say that about any one?!" 

"That's what I'm here to find out, Sara." 

Her expression morphed into one of bewilderment. He gave her a weak smile in return. 

"Him?" 

He nodded. 

"You're here to . . . 'look in' on that asshole?" 

Another nod. 

"Then what?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"When you're done with what it is you're doing. Then what? Do you stay? Do you . . . do you leave? Because, um, you-you can't-" 

"I'm not going anywhere, Sara. When I'm done. I'm done. I'll still be with the NYPD." 

She nodded her head. 

"Good, good." 

She went back to searching through the file. Slower than before. Jake took the last sip of his coffee and booted up his computer. A chill ran down his spine. He pulled his jacket closer to him. He shouldn't have answered his phone earlier this morning. He should have ripped the cord out of the wall and continued on with what he had been doing. 

He entered his password in the correct field and waited for his authorization to come through. Maybe if he called up General Banner, he would send Broody's file straight over. Now that he knew who Jake was, it wouldn't hurt to try. The page began to load up. He hated how long it took. 

He glanced over to Sara. She still looked kind of angry, with a little sadness thrown in. She sensed that she was being watched and returned his stare. 

The computer beeped to signal that it was ready. Jake broke off the look and began to enter in the search information. 

* * * * 

The Lady Detective hadn't liked his picture. He thought it had been a good idea. So had the white-haired man. He had told him that it would work, and it did. He thought in was interesting to see how Sophia's picture ended up. The flour was a nice touch too. You could do a lot with that stuff. It was fun. 

Her children had found the picture. They weren't seers, but the white-haired man had told him that it would be best to stay away from the little one's. Children drew too much attention. He had found that out with Mary. It was a good idea. Sometimes you couldn't tell if they had the sight until they were older. But he wouldn't forget Mary. He would keep track of her. 

He stood on the dock and watched his newest picture come to life. He had tethered Paul to the pilasters of the wooden platform, and held him under the water. Paul didn't really like this. He guessed that Paul wasn't a very good swimmer. Soon the splashing stopped and there were no more bubbles coming up from the water. He took out his serrated hunting knife and began to saw at one of Paul's feet. He had tied rope to each of his limbs. The fish were coming. 

He wondered why the fish liked the smell of blood. How could they even smell? They didn't have noses. He would ask Seiji. Seiji was smart, but he wouldn't be happy to know that he had helped two more people in less than two days. Seiji didn't care who was who, he didn't like to see people die. 

He had asked Seiji why. Seiji had admitted to killing others before. He told him something about a big war that not many people knew about. It hadn't happened in this world. He knew about war. People got hurt in fights that big. Then he had asked Seiji about his threat to kill him if the Atlanta girl didn't. 

Seiji never gave him an answer. 

It bothered him. He didn't like not getting answers. It made him worry. No one in the world enjoyed worrying. 

He finished separating the correct parts and stepped back to watch the fish come up. He took out his camera and began to hum. He had gotten into the habit of taking two pictures. One for him and one for the white-haired man. 

He took one last look at Paul's body and began to walk away. He had risked doing this during the day. It was the only time he could get to Paul. There were no problems. 

He checked his name off of his mental list. It was time to move on to the next, person. If he did this right, he would have an easier time getting to the Lady Detective. 

He smiled and walked out onto the sidewalk. 


	18. Epiphany

XVIII. Epiphany 

It felt strange. Not being near her. But there had been two more 'pictures' found before nightfall yesterday. They had to spilt up to cover more ground. It still was weird. Jake McCartey had been around Sara Pezzini almost every waking hour and then some since the case began a month and a half ago. With so much happening in such a small amount of time, they had been ordered to take different paths by the Captain. Jake hadn't seen his partner for a whole day. He wondered how she was doing. 

And he was still cold. 

He had just finished interviewing Paul Warren's family, co-workers, and employers. He had covered all the basic questions with all of them: Paul's last known whereabouts, if there was anyone who would want to harm him, and things like that. That had turned up nothing overly interesting. He had taken the mother aside and asked her the more unusual question. The link between the victims had help up. Paul's mother had claimed that her son was . . . unusually perceptive. 

"A homicide cop, huh?" 

Jake took a few steps backward to find the source of the question. She was sitting on a bench that he had passed. He had been too preoccupied to notice her sitting there. But then, she might not have been there when he walked by the first time. He smiled and sat down next to his friend. 

"Yeah, it's not dull. Not that my other job was." 

"Is it any easier than what you were doing?" 

He laughed and shook his head in the negative. She smiled at him. 

"You sure do get around. You know that, Jake?" 

"You know me. I'm an over achiever." 

"Perhaps. So, how are you McCartey? I mean, not counting a few weeks ago, the first time I saw you, you were about twenty miles east of useless." 

"Well, that's what happens when you get shout in the back four times, Melissa." 

"Actually, It was six." 

"What?" 

"You were shot six times, there were two exit wounds and the other four decided they liked the inside of your body so much that they didn't want to leave." 

"You tell me this five years later." 

"We were kind of busy. You know. You were there." 

"True. I guess if you hadn't bothered to help me, I'd be, what was it you said, twenty miles east of useless." 

"No. Then you'd be on the south side." 

He laughed at her joke, and pulled his jacket in closer around him. If it wasn't bad enough that he was already having phantom chills, she dropped the temperature around her even further. 

"I don't know if we ever apologized for dragging you into that mess in Japan, Jake." 

"We were there for two different things. They just happened to cross. Besides, after those guys opened fire in that bar I thought the whole mission was shot to hell. I didn't expect a fist fight to break out between a fourteen year old girl and some guy wearing an asian suit of armor in the middle of a room where live rounds were being exchanged." 

"It happens." 

"After you finished with him and went on the rest of the room . . . After what I had seen, I was laying there wondering if you were going to finish me off." 

"I was going to. They had been hired to capture us by Japan's version of Kenneth Irons. You're lucky I recognized english words on your badge or I you wouldn't be sitting here right now. If you recall, I wasn't in the best state of mind back then." 

"Prdon my langueage, but you were out of your fucking mind , Iceani." 

"That too." 

They fell into silence. There was a quick flash of pain in his lower back. Despite the fact that Halo had healed him, his mind remembered the pain. It hurt, a lot. Actually, hurt was an understatement. He did know that one of the bullets had shattered one of his vertebra, and who knows what else the other three had done. Bleeding to death wasn't a picnic either. He had almost wanted Iceani's sword to come down and finish it's intended job. She had stopped herself less than a centimeter away from his neck. She had knelt down next to him and checked his badge. He had worn it on his belt that day. He normally didn't. She had stood back up and looked around the room. He thought that the girl was going to leave him there. He didn't care too much at the moment. He did remeber wondering how her hands and legs had gotten covered in so much blood. It took him a minute to realize that it was his own. Jake had passed out when she picked him up and took him out of the bar. The next thing he clearly remembered, was feeling very sleepy. Not tired, but sleepy. He actually distinguished between the two. Then he noticed that there was no pain. He had bolted upright, and an armor covered hand had stopped him from yelling. His eyes had met a pair of purple ones. The blonde boy told him that he would be fine and then explained to him what was going on. All hell broke loose a few hours later. 

"I was offered a very early retirement because of you people." 

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing, Jake?" 

"I guess it was a good thing. I think." 

"You think?" 

"There are pro's and con's to everything." 

"The pro's, huh? Would one of those pro's include a female that you are working with. I didn't miss the way you pulled her away from the three of us in Irons' office." 

Jake laughed to try and cover up the flush that spread across his face, and managed to say yes through his laughter. A few people stared at them while the walked by. He didn't care. 

"Yeah, but-" 

"Don't worry, Detective. I have no reason to make you mad at me. My lips are sealed. I could find a better way to do it if I wanted too, any how." 

"I know." 

"So, why else are you in New York." 

"Excuse me?" 

"I refuse to believe that you were so easily let go, Jake." 

"I was. Been inactive for a little under four years. But, uh, after I joined up in San Diego they asked me to do something. It was a year ago." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Instead of planting some body, they wanted to use some one who was already in the police ranks. Doesn't look so suspicious that way. I was helped with a transfer out here so I could 'get in' with a little side organization that has been causing problems for the past forty years or so. I still don't know why I said yes." 

"It's amazing what one word can do to a person's life. Isn't it?" 

"Yep. I told you now it's your turn." 

"Drew and I came here to meet up with Seiji. He was supposed to pick us up at the airport about two and half weeks ago. He never showed. We've been looking for him ever since." 

"I could look into a fe-" 

"No. Stick with your job and the case you're working on. We don't need to distract you from your work again." 

"It's no probl-" 

"Jake. No." 

"Fine, Melissa. Be that way." 

She stood up and stretched. He got up and glared at her. 

"I appreciate it, but I think that there are other things that need your attention. So don't look at me like that. I can dish it out, too." 

"Speaking of other things, you would happen to know anything about my case would you?" 

"Aside from what I've read, not really. I do know that if you go up to Albany, you'll find the grave of that SEAL you're looking for. I don't know if he's in it." 

"All right. I've only told Sara about that. How did you know? And would you mind telling me how you do that?" 

"When, uh, we were up in the Vorshlage building there were a few things on Kenny's computer. Drew looked through everything while he was distracted. He recognized one as the name on the screen as one that had been released to the public. I figured that since the other guy had vanished, some one might end up looking for him. Didn't have to go far either, Irons' had already found him." 

"I guess I should get him dug up. Make sure it's him." 

"Have fun. Well, I guess we should part ways." 

"I guess. Tell me what happens with Seiji." 

"Sure." 

Jake's cell phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out to see the incoming number. It was the office. 

"McCartey." 

He looked back up and she was gone. He hated when people did that. It was annoying. 

* * * * 

"If there is one thing I don't miss about being alive, it's the paper work." 

Danny Woo was leaning back in Jake's chair with his feet propped up on the desk. Well, it _was_ his desk. He was watching his former partner. Sort of. He couldn't find her underneath all the files. 

"You could help, Danny." 

"How? I can't pick up a pencil." 

"Then how can you sit in the chair?" 

She had a point, but he still didn't think it would work. The truth was, he really didn't know how he did some things. It just was. He knew what he needed to know. He knew if and when he could tell Sara what she needed to know. Danny had never thought about it. All that mattered was that he was here, and it was now. 

"So, Pez, ho-" 

"Did you know about the man in the park?" 

"What?" 

"You told me to go. Remember? 'Look's like the we'll have nice weather. I think I'll go to that little park on Highland'. Ring a bell?" 

"Oh, that. I knew you needed to be there. That's all. Not that it mattered. You forgot any way." 

"So did you give Jake some weird impulse to go there because I didn't?" 

"No. I really don't know what that was." 

"Great. Now my partner is developing some weird sixth sense for-" 

"Now that I think about it. It was an outside thing. I mean, McCartey does have that thing about knowing when he's being watched, but a lot of normal people can do that." 

"So, some one else made him go to the park?" 

"It's the only thing I can think of." 

She went back to filling out the papers on her desk. After a few minutes she looked back up at him. 

"What?" 

"Why are you still here?" 

"I'm where I'm supposed to be, when I'm supposed to be. You tell me. You're the one who brought me here." 

"I asked you what I wanted to know, and you gave me a relatively straight answer. I'm proud of you for making progress." 

"I'm here to serve, Pez." 

"Them find a way to pick up a pen or something and help." 

"Nah." 

Sara rolled her eyes at him and went back to writing her report. Not that it would please Dante. Nothing with her name on it ever would. Danny knew why, too. It just wasn't the time to tell her. He was waiting to tell her something now. In a minute or two, really.   
A voice outside made Sara look out her, now cleaned off, window. She had taken the pictures down. 

"Your rock star's back." 

"Jake's not a rock star." 

"It was a joke." 

"You're sense of humor hasn't improved any." 

"Yeah, well, I don't really care." 

She didn't answer him. Instead she tried to get her partner's attention through the window of her office. Jake began to make his way through the precinct to the door. It was almost time. The door knob turned. Now. 

"You need to stay away from him for a night or two." 

She turned to look at him. He could still see her, but on her end it was another story. As soon as Jake opened the door, Sara had blurted out his name. 

He couldn't stop himself from laughing at the look he gave her. 

* * * * 

The man had forgotten again. He was so busy with whatever his plan was that he had forgotten about Seiji. The sedative wasn't completely out of his system yet, but it would have to be enough. He had used the time to sort out a few things. One of them being who it was he had reached. It had taken a great deal of meditation, and that was something Seiji did very well. He didn't get to Drew, but he did find McCartey. It had worked too. The man had come back whining and complaining about not having helped the little girl. And that the Partner and the girl's mother weren't dead. 

Seiji had kept a straight face. Even though he wanted to grin like an idiot. It was something he didn't do very often. He had saved one life, but not the others. The man had sped up his work. In his haste, he had forgotten about Seiji. Halo was still dormant, but his abilities didn't come from the armor. With him not being drugged up, he was able to manage fairly basic levels of telepathy with no problem. And the others were coming back at a fairly decent rate. 

Not one to ever let an opening go unused, Seiji had taken advantage of the man's mistake. 

He had decided that stopping this guy was more important than his friends finding him. If they did, it would take a lot of explaining to get around just _how_ they would have stumbled across him. So, he had turned his attention back to other things. It had taken Seiji three hours to find McCartey again. It was frustrating, it would normal take a second or even less. He was with someone familiar to him in a small room. There was another presence, too. Seiji didn't find it the least bit strange that the third person was dead. 

The other was a woman. The Lady Detective. He could see why the man was interested in her. She was strong. Having the Witchblade attached to her wrist made her even more powerful. He had laughed out loud when he recognized what was amplifying the Lady Detective's thought patterns. Seiji had wondered what had happened to the Blade when he heard the Kenneth Irons was putting the Joan of Arc collection on display. He really didn't like that man. Not many people did, except his own son. 

He could do this now, but it wouldn't be worth much. It would be easier when she was asleep. Hopefully he could find out more about his captor by then. 

Seiji smiled. He would tell the Lady Detective to her face what she needed to know. 


	19. Gray

XIX. Gray 

Ian Nottingham sat on the dark rot iron of Sara Pezzini's fire escape. She had gone home alone tonight. He wouldn't have to deal with the irritating presence of her partner for some time, he hoped. Not that he ever could avoid him. Whenever a wielder from Sara's bloodline sprang up, there was always someone else with her. He knew for a fact. 

Ian remembered several of those distant life times. He also knew that the people traveled in groups. With intermittent 'souls' here and there. It had been confusing at first. To have known all the people close to you for centuries. Millenniums, even. It wasn't until the memories in question surfaced that he fully understood what the Eastern Philosophy meant. And from those memories, he had come to the conclusion, that this incarnation of Detective McCartey was even more annoying than any of his previous selves. He did give him one point, though. He would die for her. He would kill for her. 

He had before. 

Ian was an old soul. Not as old as Sara's or Kenneth Irons, but he had been around. He had been there, first hand, to witness some of the memories that Sara was reliving during her sleep. Maybe, even the one she was having now. At times, he wished that his mind was capable of more than empathy. Not that reading emotion was anything to shrug at, but . . . to see the actual thoughts of others would be something. 

He shifted his position on the uncomfortable metal. There was a slight rumbling in the distance. It would rain soon. He could smell it. Normally, it wouldn't matter. Tonight, however, he was to return home early. He stood up and watched her for a few more moments. It was time to leave. Ian jumped from her landing to the alley floor. He walked the few blocks to his car and headed home. 

* * * * 

_She looked towards the outside world. Anything beyond the Wall was foreign to her. Her parents had died helping build the barrier that would protect Chin from the outsiders._

_She even knew where their bones were used in the Wall's construction._

_She had come to say her final prayers to them here, and to the ancestors. It would have to be quick. She could not afford to be seen. She didn't trust the blackness of night to shield her from her pursuers. She kneeled next to the Wall and brought her hands together in prayer._

_The moonlight reflected off of the bracelet on her wrist._

_She had many conversations with her brother and uncle, but she could never summon her parents. The Gauntlet had given her sight beyond normal vision. In her dreams and in her waking hours. The elders had discovered her secret, and demanded that the object be handed over. So it could "be put to its proper use by a worthy soul."_

_Fools._

_They had no idea._

_She smiled in remembrance._

_She had given them what they asked for. By nightfall the next day all who had touched it were dust. They had aged so fast that their bodies had crumbled to the ground. She had laughed the whole night. Even now she could barely contain her laughter. The Gauntlet had found its way back to her. By then, no one would venture near her._

_She was untouchable._

_And, soon, she would be over the Wall and away from the insignificant mortals in her village. But they were braver than she hand first thought. A day after her departure, mercenaries had picked up her trail. She had fought all of them off. And, still, more came. Did they send word to the Emperor?_

_No matter. She was already ahead of them._

_She finished her prayer and rose to her feet. Only to meet a blade at her throat. The man grabbed her hair and bared her neck. She tried to summon the weapon._

_Nothing._

_Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the men leering at her. She knew what would happen now. She had been so close._

_The men drug her away from the wall. The blade dug into her skin. It took all night for her to die at their hands._

_The Gauntlet's punishment for excessive ego._

_* * * *_

"Damn!" 

Sara walked into her office to be greeted by the sight of her partner kicking the file cabinets and swearing. The noise didn't help her head ache, or her lack of sleep. She didn't know why Danny had told her to be alone for a while. Nothing new had happened. 

Yet. 

"Jake?" 

"It's him!" 

"What?" 

"In the grave! It _is_ James Broody's body. I was hoping, some how, it wouldn't be." 

She sat down on his desk and watched him pace. He wasn't in a good mood today. He was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, too. 

"Jake stop moving. You're making me sick with all the back and forth motion." 

He stopped pacing the small room and ran his hands through his hair. Nope, he hadn't gone home. She motioned from him to sit down in his chair. Jake rotated the chair around and lowered himself into the leather. 

"Is there any coffee out there, Sara?" 

"I wouldn't risk it, Helstrom made it." 

He nodded his head and closed his eyes. Maybe she should send him home. He looked beat. She was about to speak when he opened and eyes and asked her a question. 

"How are you?" 

"Tired. But I think you have me beat today." 

"Oh." 

"Jake, what all did you do last night?" 

"I drove up to Albany to see the exhumation. It went pretty quick since the ground was wet from the rain. I stuck around for a few initial reports, but the dental records didn't come in until a few minutes ago. I came back and have been working since then. Trying to find anything. I checked up on the Morgans, too. There have been no problems there." 

"Did you find any time to get some rest?" 

"Nah. I couldn't sleep anyway." He shook his head. He leaned forward and searched around her for something on his desk. 

"When's the last time you ate something?" 

"I cleared the vending machine out of pop tarts last night. Could you scoot over? I think you're sitting on it" 

"That is not an approved source of nourishment," She slid off his desk top watched Jake pick up a file she had been sitting on, "McDonalds is better than that. Who knows how long those things have been in there." 

"I feel fine. It was like being in college again. I just had to extend the five second rule to a few years." 

"Uh huh. Sure. More like decades. Come on, Jake. Let's go get something to eat. We can stop off at your place so you can get cleaned up. Then we can come back here and get to work." 

"Sara, yo-" 

She put a hand over his mouth and lifted an eyebrow in a silent question. He slowly nodded his head and she removed her hand. Sara grabbed his car keys off the file cabinet. The door opened next to her and Jake made a motion for her to go first. She walked out of her office and into an elderly, short, red-headed woman. 

"Hello." The woman spoke with a huge smile on her face. 

She looked over her shoulder at Jake. He shrugged in ignorance. 

"May we help yo-" 

"Yes. I'm Maggie Cole." She said in a cheery voice. Sara had the feeling that Maggie was one of those people who were perpetually happy. She stood there with a bright smile on her face while she looked up at Sara and Jake. 

"I'm Detect-" 

"I know who you two are." 

". . . really? Well then, we really need to go Ms. Col-" 

"Mrs. Cole and I think you two need to stay right here and talk to me." 

"Ma'am, Detective McCartey and myself are in the middle of a very important case. We need to-" 

"Need to talk to me. I know." She interrupted Sara once again. It was getting on her nerves. 

"Mrs. Co--" 

"The man you're looking for. He's been following me." 

"I beg your pardon." 

"He knows what we are Detective Pezzini. He knows what your partner is. He know that there are a few others in this very precinct who are just like Detective McCartey, though not as influential. He has a sense for it, Dear." She clasped her hands in front of her as she finished her sentence. Sara was reminded of an old couple that had lived next door to her when she was a child. 

"Would you please come in, Mrs. Cole." Jake spoke over her shoulder while he pulled Sara back into the office. 

"What a nice young man." She came through the door way and took the chair that was offered to her. For a moment, she studied the two Detectives. Her smile never faded from her face. Jake shifted under her scrutiny. He tried to cover it up by puling Sara's chair out for her. 

"Mrs. Co-" 

"You two make such a cute couple. Why, it reminds me of my Eugene and me when we first got together," She sighed, "We were so happy then. Didn't have a care in the world. It's a good feeling, isn't it?" 

"We-I-well, we really shou-um . . ." Sara stammered. 

"Yeah, it is." Jake said, quietly. 

"Well then, I guess I should get on with it, shouldn't I? Don't want to be holding up some of New York's finest." 

"Whenever you're ready, Mrs. Cole." 

"Thank you, dear. Let's see. Now, I first read about what had happened at that house, well I guess it's been nearly two months. I thought it was terrible. Some times it's scary to see what humans can be capable of. It's a shame." She shook her head and her smile faltered for a brief moment. "I thought that the killer would be caught soon. I mean, people don't stand for that kind of thing. Something like that make folks work hard to bring the ones responsible to justice. And then there was another and another. You know all this, you're on the case. One morning, I'm making breakfast for Eugene and myself, like I always do on Saturday morning. I'm pouring coffee when he looks up from the paper to tell that there had been another murder. A married couple. Terrible, terrible how those two boys had to find them. Eugene goes on to read the article to me while I'm cooking, and he says the name of the couple: Rebecca and David Sheller. Well, I about had a heart attack. My daughter and Rebecca had gone through school together, of course she was Rebecca Roberts then. I was at the wedding. It was a beautiful service. White and purple everywhere. And then I know that you know that Rebecca and David had the sight. That bracelet that was found was a present I gave to her on her sweet sixteen. I had it engraved with her name and an old symbol that stood for mental fortitude. 

"It broke my heart to see that they had fallen victim to that man. Now, Rebecca had taken a liking to me when she was little because I could help her. Since I'm like her. Like you, Detective Pezzini. She would come to me to learn how to understand what she had seen, and I tried to help her to not be so frightened by what she would see in her dreams. I had gone to my mother for the same kind of help. It felt so good to be helping some one. I went into social work soon after, just so I could have that feeling all the time . . . She was such a good girl. But life goes on, and we have to have along with it. So the next day, I got up and went to the store. Like I always do. Eugene and I went on with our routine, and everything was fine. But one day, I noticed this man. Where ever I went there was this strange feeling. Like there was some one watching me. Well, I got in my car and I went right down the street to the church. The man was still there, but he would go in the building. I got the impression that he was afraid of it. Which was fine by me. Eventually, he went away. I didn't see him for sometime. Then he'd pop up here and there. Then I started to have the dreams again. I hadn't had them in a few years. They were about the murders that had been going on. There was all this strange imagery, um, let's see: a man with . . . white hair, the people that have been killed, the man that had been following me, and crayons." 

"Crayons?" 

"Yes. I'll get back to that. I thought that it was simple paranoia. Then there was that photo that was in the paper from earlier this week. You know the one, where he tried to get that little girl and you saved the mother. That was very brave, by the way, young man. Who knows what could have happened with the water being so cold, and the the weather. My Great Uncle lost an arm to hypothermia and frost bite. You're very lucky. But back to the important part. I kept on having these dreams, and I finally said 'that's enough. I need to tell some one'. About the crayons: In my dreams things went backward. Not as in rewound, but more of an age thing. All the images went from oldest to youngest. There way always a child's voice saying he wanted to help the special people. The voice started out more mature than ended in a little boy's tone. I think that, well as if we didn't already know, there is something seriously wrong with this man. It's, how should I say this, it's like he's going back. In his mind. He understands how the world works, but at the same time he's a boy. A child. It's so hard to describe." 

"I think I understand, Mrs. Cole." 

"Thank you, Ms. Pezzini. He wants you, you know. He's looking for a way to get to you. So he can 'help' you. In more ways than one. He wants to show you that people like Detective McCartey are beneath you, no offense it's just what I picked up from him." 

"None taken." 

"And he thinks he'll help the world by killing him off. I needed to tell someone this before it had to go." 

"Where are you going, Mrs. Cole? You-you need stick around. We can protect you better that way." 

"Oh, dear." She smiled at Sara, "I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, I'm next. I saw my end three nights ago. I've put all my affairs in order. I've said my good bye's. And I've told you what I know. My job is done." 

"We can keep you safe from him, Mrs. Cole. I can put you in protective custody. He won't get to you." 

"Sara, may I call you that? I'm not afraid of him. We all have to go some time. I just have a leg up on it." 

"But-" 

"I have the right to refuse. Now, I have to go get things for dinner." She stood and picked up her bag, "I wish you luck. And you," She pointed to Jake, "keep her safe. Good day." 

Maggie walked out of the office. Sara got up to follow her, but Jake stopped her. 

"Jake-" 

"Shhhh. One way or another it'll happen, Pez. Let her go. We have work to do." 

"But-" 

"It's what she wants. One of two things will happen: we'll get this guy or we'll find Maggie Cole somewhere in the city. We can talk about it on the way." 

"On the way where?" 

"I thought we were going to my place." 

"How can you be so acc-" 

"She's accepted it Sara, and we can't do anything unless she gives us permission. Believe me, I don't want to see another person die like that." 

Sara looked out her door to see if the woman had left. There was no sign of her. She watched the people outside of her office. Going along and doing their jobs. For a moment it didn't seem real. There was no sound. Everything was slower. Another one of the Witchblade's interfaces in her life. It was oddly comforting, in a morbid sort of way. She had just let a fellow human being go to what would probably be her death. There was a slight pressure on her shoulder and reality came rushing back. Her eyes met a pair of tired blue ones. 

She didn't move. 

Jake nodded his head and shut the door to their office. 

* * * * 

Well. The site is up and running again. I about died. Not being able to do anything. Then I went on vacation. Now I'm sitting here in my on campus apartment at Florida State University trying to catch up before tomorrow when classes start. A warning, by the way, when research paper time hits. don't expect to hear from me for a few weeks. But that won't be for a while. Thank god. 

So. We get another season of Witchblade, huh? My fic, Mask and Mirror, was just an idea on how they might fix the time line. It was my first one-shot, too. I think it turned out all right. 

Well, I have to go update my site. 

Review the story. 

And go sign my guest book!!!!! 


	20. The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea

XX. The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea 

"Why is this taking so long, huh? . . . I know you're trying . . . you did . . . when? . . . really? . . . That's interesting . . . it might work. You never know . . . things will be better for her once you send her on like the others . . . No! No. He lives . . . I know you don't like him . . . If that's the only way you can get to her, then fine. But I want him kept alive if at all possible. He has some use to me . . . I'll tell him for you . . . of course he'll like it, doesn't he always? . . . all right . . . OK . . . I need to let you go. I'll tell him what you've told me . . . sure thing . . . now go. You have people to help." 

Captain Bruno Dante hung up the receiver and peered out of the blinds in his office. Detectives Pezzini and McCartey were walking out of the precinct. His eyes narrowed at Pezzini. Soon she would be out of his hair, and Irons could have whatever it was he wanted from the woman's body. Both he and Irons seemed to have a thing for putting her in the ground. This guy was out of his mind enough to pull it off. 

He snorted. 

'Helping people.' What a moron. As long as he 'helped' Pezzini, Dante didn't care what he did. And if he could manage it without serious harm to McCartey, even better. But it didn't look like it was going to end up that way. He might have to give up McCartey to get Pezzini. 

Oh well. It was too bad. He had potential, too. 

* * * * 

She was upset. Jake could tell even though he was half asleep. He looked up at her from where is head was resting on her lap and studied her face for a moment. Yeah, she was depressed about something. Mrs. Cole most likely, but the woman had refused their help. They had to respect those wishes. 

"Sara." 

"Hmm?" 

"I'm sorry." 

She didn't answer him except to run her fingers through his hair. He sat up and turned her to face him. 

"Sara, we have to do what she asked us. People have the right to refuse help." 

"I know. But now . . . before they were strangers. I know we only met her for a few minutes, but . . . " 

"Now there's a familiar face out there." He finished her sentence for her. 

"Yeah. You're right for once." 

"'For once'?" 

She rolled her eyes at him. He didn't know if it was a good thing or not. Jake decided that once they closed this case, they were taking a long, and well deserved vacation. He took her head in his hands and planted a kiss on her forehead. She gave him a small smile in return. 

"We should probably get to work, shouldn't we?" 

"That might be a good idea." 

"Yeah." She finished softly. 

He hoped nothing had happened no that old woman yet. He didn't want to know what Sara might do if they found her body somewhere. Maybe they could put a surveillance team on her? There were so many problems with this case. 

"Jake?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Kiss me." 

He didn't not, however, have a problem with that. 

* * * * 

The Woman had talked to the Lady Detective and the Partner. He knew she would. It couldn't be helped. No one could control everything in life. It wouldn't matter soon. She would be with Rebecca soon. Or that is what he had hoped, but since the Woman had gone to the Lady Detective, it might not be such a good idea to send her on. Maybe he should wait until after he helped the Lady Detective and got rid of the Partner. Then no one would be angry when she was gone. 

The white-haired man had told him that the Lady Detective could be scary when she was angry. The white-haired man and his friend were such nice people. There weren't too many people like them left in the world. There were a lot of mean people, like the Partner, the Atlanta girl, and the Man in Black. Why did he help the Lady Detective? At least he knew that the Partner had hurt himself because the water was cold. 

He liked the cold. 

The warm weather made him feel all sticky. 

The cold was a good thing. 

He looked down the walkway to the entrance of the church. The Woman would be coming out soon. There she was. In the door way. She looked at him and he yelled to her. 

"Don't worry! I can help you after I help the Lady Detective!" 

She nodded her head and went back inside. He turned around and blended in with the people on the side walk. He smiled to himself. It would be time soon. Then the white-haired man could have the Lady Detective and she could go to the better place. He would rid the world of one more problem, too. 

He had put all his attention on her right now. For the moment she was . . . happy. The Partner was only good for one thing, and that was it. Granted he didn't understand this kind of happy. But it didn't matter. Let them be for the moment. 

Soon, they would never see each other again. 

* * * * 

So much for slow. 

That was the only coherent thought that had run through her head. Well, that wasn't completely true. She was thinking right now. But she wasn't too sure. Sara didn't _want_ to think about much of anything. She was a huge fan of living in the moment right now. She smiled when Jake pulled her closer. He ran his hand down her bare back and kissed her shoulder. 

She felt so warm. 

She had missed this feeling. 

"Sara?" 

"Hmmm?" 

"I-" 

There was a knock on the door. Her eyes flew open to meet Jake's startled one's. 

"Um, who is it?" He called. 

"It's your Captain, McCartey!" A muffled voice came through the door. 

"Shit!" He said under his breath. 

She began to scramble for her clothes. She threw his shirt at him. 

"Give me a second!" Jake yelled. 

"Jake, where did you throw my other shoe?" She asked in a rushed whisper. 

"I don't know. Um, If I see them I'll hide them. Find a closet, hide out in my bath room or something. If Dante finds us . . ." 

He straightened out his clothes and made slowly made his way to the door. She picked up the last of her things and sprinted up the stairs. She heard the door opend. 

"What took so long, McCartey?" 

"Sorry, I was about to get in the shower." 

"Really?" 

Dante didn't seem to believe him. 

Please don't come up stairs. 

"Yeah I was. Then I was going to meet with, Pez." 

"So, uh, where is Pezzini?" 

"She went to go speak with the woman who came in this morning." 

She let out a breath of relief. Thank god that Jake was quick on his feet. 

"Well, she's turned off her cell." 

"Maybe she's in a place that doesn't allow cell phones." 

"Maybe. Why didn't you answer your's?" 

"I didn't even know it rang, Captain." 

"Make sure it doesn't happen again, McCartey." 

"Yes, sir." 

"Well, the reason I've been trying to find you two is that your little psychopath has had himself another fun day out on the town! Now, I know that you'd never let anything slip this far. It's that woman, Pezzini. She's holding you back! I want you to give _serious_ thought to reassignment. 'Cause with Pezzini . . . " 

"I appreciate your concern, sir, but I'm fine where I am. Now where do we need to go." 

"Copeland and 35th North. Do your jobs." 

The door slammed shut. Sara peeked her head around the corner and looked down the stairs. Jake looked up at her. It was time to get going. 

"Uh, Sara. I found your shoe." 

She burst out laughing. 


	21. The Holly and the Ivy

Well, I'm getting yelled at now. I don't know how to take that. I guess it can be a good thing or a bad thing. But to an unnamed person, I haven't seen your name on the review list in a while. Like since single digit chapters. 

Ahhh, the review. 

Part of the reason I wait so long is to see how many each chapter gets. I started doing this after I hit 40. If you average it out, I'm only getting 5.3 reviews per chapter . . . that's not a whole lot. 

It's also why I don't put out more than one chapter at a time anymore. I _try_ to review the stories I read by every chapter. When in doubt, insert smiley here. I would like to get 10 each chapter. Now there are the people I refer to as the Constant Six, they always say something. That leave four more to step up to the plate. And 10 is not a lot, especially when I see how many people read this thing. If every one who read this story reviewed every chapter then . . . well . . . I'd be a happy little camper. Boy is that an understatement. 

And while you're at it, if you go to my site (which is in dire need of updating) please sign the guest book. I got my friend david to leave some freaky ramble in there. And some one else finally signed. It made me feel all tingly. 

Sorry to sound like a bitch. It's been a long day. And I got nasty emails from people telling me to hurry it up. And that I was stupid for not pressing on with my other story. And no one likes to come home to that, especially after getting soaked in the two thunderstorms we had today and I forgot my umbrella. 

I'll stop now. 

Remember. 10. Feed the review -a- saurus. 

****************************************************************************************************************************   
XXI. The Holly and the Ivy 

Kenneth Irons watched the world go by from his office window. Did they know how small they all really were? Going day to day, minute to minute. None of them knew what the real world was like. Ignorant. All of them. 

Fools. 

If only they knew that their myth made up most of reality. Now that would be interesting. Unfortunately, the public would never believe him. Even with proof. Technology had stolen what little faith that people had in the extra sensory realm. 

But he didn't care. He knew what was true and what was pretense. And soon, he would have what he had coveted for over a century. He has partially succeeded with Elizabeth Bronte, and utterly failed with Dominique Bucher. Sara Pezzini, however, would prove to be a complete success. 

He smiled to himself. 

Dante had informed him this morning of his man's course of action. He guessed it was a good thing that the experiment had gone wrong. No door closes without another opening. Granted, his man had drawn attention to himself. But he got the job done, even if it made a mess. He knew his orders. He would follow. 

"Sir, your four o'clock is here." A voice came through his speaker phone. 

"Please send him in." 

Time to play pretend. 

* * * * 

It wasn't Mrs. Cole. 

Still, it didn't make him feel any better. Detective Jake McCartey circled the corpse of a middle aged Latino woman. She had been strung up along a set of trees behind and apartment building. The only way they knew it was a woman was the fact that her head had been swinging like a pendulum from what looked like a piece of intestine, if he remembered his gross anatomy correctly. 

He swallowed the bile that had risen to his throat, and looked away. His partner was speaking with the people that had found the body. Near her, the forensics team was scrambling to keep the site clear of on lookers. McCartey didn't want to be here. He wanted to be back at his place, with Sara. Even if it was his living room floor. 

He smirked. 

He had put another mental "I hate you" notch on Dante's list. If it weren't for that fact that he had to play nice with the Captain, he'd have punched him by now. Actually, maybe he could get Drew to do it for him. That would probably shatter most of Dante's face, but it would be an improvement. 

Something knocked Jake out of his train of thought. He turned around in a circle to try and find the source of the feeling. 

They were being watched again. 

He undid the safety on his gun and began to walk towards that alley between the buildings. 

Nothing. 

But he had been here. He could see where he had been sitting. Jake walked into the alley and looked for anything that he might have left behind. Aside from the news papers that were strewn about there didn't seem to be anything. 

"Jake!" 

"Huh?" 

He turned around to come face to face with Sara. He gave her a half smile. 

"What are you doing, rookie?" 

"Don't give me that." He scolded, "There was some one watching us again. He's gone now." 

She nodded her head. She knew who it was too. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. 

"Are you going to be alone again tonight?" 

She met his eyes and shook her head "no". 

"Good. My place or yours?" 

"Mine." 

A voice by the body called her away from him and she slowly backed out of they alley. 

"Oh, McCartey, bring some coffee for tomorrow." 

"Coffee? Why?" 

"You won't be getting much sleep, that's all." 

She turned the corner and left him standing there in the alley way. A smile slowly made its way across his face. He checked his watch. 3:37 PM. 

He searched the alley some more. He looked at his watch again. 

3:39 PM. 

Damn. 

* * * * 

Two violet eyes shot open. 

Seiji did something very alien to him, he grinned like an idiot. That man had completely forgotten about him. Seiji had even told him not to underestimate him. He shook his head. 

He looked up at the clock on the wall and smiled. It was a few minutes past five. The "Lady Detective" would be going home soon. It was time to get ready. He shut his eyes and began to focus on the Witchblade. It made her easy to find. There were two good things about this. One: he could help as best he could. It was up to her whether or not she believed him. and two: This would be like a homing beacon to his friends. 

Images of the city rushed through his mind. The sound of it reminded him of being in an overcrowded restaurant. Truthfully, and he would never admit this to anyone, even at full strength this made him dizzy. Like that one time Jim Parke had convinced him to get on this thing they had dubbed the "roundy round" at a park in Georgia. It must have been his personality influencing him on that judgment call. 

It was fun though. 

She was back in the precinct. And there was the ever-present ghost. The spirit knew he was here too. Might as well pass the time. 

"May I ask who you are?" 

The spirit seemed amused. 

"Aww, don't tell me, you can't figure it out. I know who you are. I know what you are, Halo. Has whatever this guy has done to you fucked with your powers that much." 

"Whoever gave him the drugs knew what they were dealing with, Mr. . . ." 

"Woo. I'm Danny Woo. I was Pezzini's partner." 

"And the Blade decided to keep you around, huh? I guess it has it's perks." 

Woo nodded his head in agreement. It was weird. Seiji wasn't quite sure how it worked, but the ghost could see him like he could "see" Danny even though he wasn't projecting an image of himself. Maybe he should have paid more attention when he was learning about astral planes. 

Too late for that. 

"So, you're here to tell Sara what exactly?" 

"Everything you're not going to." 

"It's not time." 

"When is it time? When she's been run through with her own weapon? When her partner, not to mention lover, finds that she's bled to death? Or there's the other road. You know, where he gets McCartey first? In that version they both die. And then He dies when Iceani makes his neck do a 360. Then there's the one where I kill him, but still not in time to save Pezzini. You know how these things work. Possibilities are limitless, but those are the ones that keep repeating themselves." 

"I didn't know you were Clairvoyant. I though he had just made a mistake." 

"Oh he didn't." 

"But still-" 

"I know all about timing Detective Woo. You know better. Timing got two of my brother at arms killed. One of them I had been connected to since the day he was born. Occasionally we have to break the rules of reality." 

"I know." 

"So you'll help me. Let her know that this isn't some vision from the Witchblade. That, this is real. I'd tell McCartey, but he'd try and take care of it himself. I put too much energy into fixing him once to have to do it again." 

Danny let out a short breath of laughter. 

"I'm in, Seiji." 

"Good. Now we just have to wait." 

* * * * 

What was left of the body was bagged up and taken away in the ambulance. For the umpteenth time, Sara was glad that she wasn't the one who had to clean this mess up. She pulled her jacket in closer to ward off the cold even though she was inside. She didn't understand it. What had happened to this guy, huh? What would make a person do something like this to people? 

And why didn't the Witchblade warn her that she was being watched? 

It always had before. 

She rubbed that large red stone while she waited for Jake to come back. 

What if the guy was immune to the Blade? What if it was useless when it came to him? The stone began to vibrate. Almost like a purr, in response to her touching it. A flash if red filled her vision, accompanied by the song she had grown accustomed to hearing with the visions. It grew colder. She looked towards her office, and for a moment, she thought she saw Danny talking with a blonde teenager. The vibrating stopped, the temperature rose, and the song faded away. 

What was that supposed to tell her? 

"Pezzini." 

"Hey, Jumbo. What's up?" 

"Coming in for my shift. You?" 

"I'll be off in a few. We had another one." 

"Same rap?" 

"Nothing." 

"I'm glad I'm not you." 

"Thanks." 

"Have a good evening, Pez." 

"Same to you." 

She looked back to see Jake rounding the corner. She met him half way. 

"Well?" 

"I put a tail on Mrs. Cole. They're to report in if anything happens." 

"Thanks, Jake." 

He gave her a smile as his response. 

"Let's get out of here. I want to go home." 

"We still on?" 

"You have to follow me to find out." 

She turned around and walked out of the side door. She was out of the parking lot before he made his way out of the building. Sara laughed into her helmet. 

She didn't know if he liked to play chase. 

* * * * 

They had found his last picture. Well, his last picture until he was through with them. He didn't get to stay as long as he had wanted, though. The Partner had sensed him. He was hoping to get closer to the Lady Detective. 

He smiled at the old woman across from him on the subway. That reminded him, the Woman with red hair would come after he was done with the Lady Detective. He smiled again. If she thought her weapon would be of any use against him, she was wrong. The white-haired man has assured him no interference form the Police or the Weapon. 

He should thank the white-haired man for opening his eyes. If it weren't for him, he would have never been able to find the special one's. The Seers would have never been sent on. That was James' problem. Broody didn't want to help people, but he wasn't one of the few so he had sent Jimmy away. But Xanus had been another story all together. He had managed to hide from him for two years before he was able to send him to the better place. 

It was a good thing that they had all been in the same unit. He had been very lucky to be chosen to be with them. 

Yes, he would have to thank the white-haired man for everything. 

**************************************************************************************************** 

Remember. 10. 

I'm off to Atlanta. Be back on Tuesday. 

Go sign my guest book. 


	22. Silence

The name is pronounced in two syllables - "Dah-te". 

Remember, 10 reviews. 

********************************************************************************************************************** 

XXII. Silence 

He had surprised her by beating her to her apartment. Jake McCartey couldn't help but laugh at the look on his partner's face when she found him leaning against her door. Hey, the police siren was a fun toy. But Sara had gotten him back. The minute her door shut, she had jumped him. 

Hell, they almost didn't make it to the bed. 

And he had forgotten the coffee. 

He didn't care too much at the moment. Right now, he was focused on the woman moving above him, and the fact that the room was sweltering. How long had they been doing this? His head snapped back as another wave ran through his body. He had the urge to say something, but Sara cut off any possibility of that when she pulled him up for a kiss. 

He could live with this. 

Jake pulled them back down to the bed, and buried his face in the curve of her neck. His mind was beginning to get hazy. It was briefly interrupted by a quick pain when her nails pierced his back for the fourth time that night. Her breathing became even more labored and she tensed underneath him. 

He had no choice but to follow. 

* * * * 

_The room was dark. Or, at least she thought it was a room. She couldn't see any walls or a ceiling. Was she even standing on a floor? Where ever she was, it was creepy. But at the same time, it was familiar. In a Twilight Zone kind of way. And she wasn't alone either. She turned in a circle to came face to face with a tall, blonde, violet eyed youth._

_"Hello Detective Pezzini." His voice seemed to echo._

_What was this? She was with Jake. She couldn't be dreaming. Could she?_

_"Oh, this isn't a dream, Detective."_

_What? Did this guy read minds or something?_

_"Yes, Detective. I can."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Me? My name is Date Seiji. I'm the guy that Iceani and Sirous are looking for."_

_"Really," she edged away from him, "Why don't you tell them where you are?"_

_"Unfortunately, due to some really complicated medication, I can't. But Drew will feel this, so it will bring them that much closer."_

_"Why . . . How?"_

_"I'm a telepath. Well, that's half true. I'm a psychokenetic. Basically someone who it both a telepath and a telekinetic. There are a few things that go along with being me, but those are the main points."_

_"I didn't think that was possible."_

_He laughed._

_What was so funny?_

_"You saying that. After everything I'm sure you've been through with the Witchblade, It's just . . . funny."_

_"What are you doing in my head?!"_

_"About two months ago I felt an odd presence. I . . . I couldn't place it. It was animalistic, but at the same time child like, in the human sense. Also, it was in constant flux. And in my confusion, I was subdued. I woke up in a strange place, with all my 'sending' abilities cut off. Everything was working on the receiving end, but all communication with my armor and with the others had been cut off."_

_"Who took you?"_

_"The man you're looking for."_

_Her eyes widened._

_"But, he's only going after people who-"_

_"He didn't make a mistake with me. Now, he did with that Jon Zumbrota kid, but not with me."_

_"He killed the kid?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Do-do you know where you are? Can you-" She rushed on before he cut her off._

_"No, I don't. I haven't seen sunlight in two months. And there's this weird block . . . I think it's the guy. He's been tweaked."_

_"Tweaked?" Odd choice of words._

_"He," Seiji stopped for a moment to search for the words, "He can tell, somehow, which people have psychic ability or the potential for it. But, it's not natural. Something was done to him. Not only that, he's regressing. I've been able to find out what I can about him because he's practically forgotten about me, or he can no longer recognize when someone touches his mind."_

_She held up her hand for him to pause._

_"Why are you telling me this now? I don't even know you. How do I know you're not something conjured up by this guy?"_

_"I'm telling you now because I've gone through enough withdrawal from the drugs he was giving me, that I can speak with you. I already told your ex-partner this part. I would have told McCartey, but I put too much energy into fixing him once to try and pull it off again. You know him, he'll go and try to end this by himself."_

_Ex-partner? Danny. How did he tell Danny anything?_

_"I told you, He didn't make a mistake when he found me."_

_"You know Jake?"_

_He hesitated before he spoke, "I . . . healed him. In Japan."_

_"You don't seem too happy about that."_

_He reluctantly continued._

_"What really happened to him in Japan, is . . . it would take too long to explain. When it does come out; when he remembers what happened, it's not going to be the prettiest thing to watch. I will tell you this, he and Iceani go way back. Further than he knows. Further than he remembers, and Jake will take what she didn't tell him very personally. I really can't predict what will happen."_

_"So this is the whole 'you've always known me thing'?"_

_"Yes. I'm not here to delve into that. I'm here to tell you what Detective Woo could not."_

_Sara stared at him for what seemed like a long time. What was all this? She checked the stone on her wrist. It was doing that humming thing it had done before; when those two kids crashed Irons' office._

_"I wouldn't rely on the Witchblade too much, Detective. It's not a solution to everything." He spoke softly._

_Was he genuine? Or was he fiction? She stayed silent._

_"Whether or not you believe me is your choice. Hopefully, there will be some sort of confirmation that this is not pretense. But, will you listen?"_

_The stone's humming grew._

_She nodded her head._

_"Good." He smiled. "I've already told you part of what I know. And, yes, there are holes. But being drugged up doesn't help, and I've been saving my strength to pull this off. Normally, this wouldn't even wind me, but I think I'll be taking a nap after this."_

_"Whatever you say."_

_"Yeah. I've already helped you once, actually. I sent out an impulses, an urge, of sorts that I hoped would find one of two people that I knew. That's how I found you. After I learned that my little warning had reached Jake, I tried to find him again and I did. With you."_

_"So, you're the reason he just had to go to the park?"_

_"See, I knew Drew was here. But I wasn't too sure about Jake. I thought I had seen his name in the paper somewhere. I was searching for someone familiar. You have Woo to thank for you being near there. But since then, I've made it a point that you are the first person that I find. The Witchblade makes it very easy to do so. Uh, you might want to do something about that. And our guy, it helps him find you. I don't know if you were born with any mental abilities or if the Blade gave them to you. Either way, you are his next target. He's put off 'helping' anyone else, until he had sent you along to the others. He intends to make his move soon. I'd tell you to be careful, but the confrontation is unavoidable."_

_"How do you know? Maybe I-"_

_"I have 'seen' several ways that this thing plays out. So far I have only seen one in where you and your partner both walk away from this. You or he will be taken by this man, it is just a matter of time. Now, you know why he wants McCartey and you sort of know why he wants you."_

_She raised an eyebrow, "Sort of?"_

_"Well, uh, he's not working alone. There is someone else. He calls him the white-haired man. This . . . benefactor, if you will, has aided him and given 'fatherly' encouragement. And this man wants something from you. I don't know what."_

_"You said that neither of us will live?"_

_"No. So far, I have seen either both or one of you dead. And all of them start out the same way, but then people and places get switched and it gets complicated. You see, very rarely is the future set in stone. But there cane be greater possibilities out if the infinite choices that exist. Typically, they are the ones that 'play' themselves the most. And I have only seen one where you both live. That doesn't meant it's not possible, but . . . "_

_"How does that one end? The one where we both live?"_

_"I kill him."_

_"What about the others?"_

_"In one, you are able to incapacitate Him with help from an outside source. But it won't be in time to save McCartey. In another, he uses the Witchblade against you. You are run through with your own weapon, and McCartey ends up breaking the guy's neck. There's one where you both die, and Iceani kills him. I mean the possibilities are endless. But maybe we can make it go our way."_

_"How much do you know?"_

_"About what: you or him?"_

_"Both."_

_"I can tell you that the dreams you've been having are trying to warn you and teach you. It's showing you that each of the wielders was unique and at the same time, they were all alike. They were either strong or weak in their communities. That was what the origin dreams were about. The middle dreams were meant to show how the Gauntlet has been used and abused over time. The pretender thing was a warning."_

_"What about the others?"_

_"A lesson. That no one is totally invulnerable. They each had a flaw that refused to acknowledge. And it was their end. It was also a bit of foreshadowing."_

_"To watch my back."_

_"Pretty much."_

_"Part two: Him. I know that he knew Xanus. And he knew James Broody, who he killed for his unworthiness. Our guy was in the same unit as the other two. He was also part of the same test. And as you can tell, he did not come out as expected. His mind has slowly slipped further and further out of any sense of normalcy. And his power is growing. I know that his little romp in New York is not his first. He did away with his family first, then he moved on. One day, when the tranquilizers began to wear off, I woke up and heard him reciting a list of names. I asked him what he was doing, and he told me he was remembering all the people he had helped and all the people who weren't special that he had gotten rid of. But he couldn't remember how to count the names, so he decided to say them instead. I asked him when he had started saying his names. He told me he had just started."_

_"How long did it take?"_

_"All afternoon and most of the night."_

_"I don't think that-"_

_"It's easier to get rid of a body than you think."_

_She eyed him. His response was to raise an eyebrow._

_"So, Jake's hunch was right. He was a SEAL."_

_"Apparently he was very good at what he did. Well, we can see that in what he does."_

_"How do you-"_

_"I am Wisdom."_

_"That's supposed to explain everything."_

_He laughed._

_"No, but it goes a long way."_

_"How do I make it so that both Jake and I live?"_

_"Basic rules of combat. Know your opponent. Do not underestimate him. Rely on your mind and body, not on a tangible Weapon. It will will help you if it can, but don't expect too much. And pay attention to what the Blade tells you before you encounter Him, what it shows you may save both of your lives."_

_The room began to fade. The darkness was receding. It looked like this was going to end soon. Before . . . where ever she was, completely vanished she heard Seiji wish her luck._

_* * * * *_

"What was that?!" 

"What was what?" 

Drew Newell hushed his friend and listened for it again. 

"Drew?" 

"Quiet, Melissa." 

No. It wasn't outside. It was in his head. He got up from his place on the hotel room couch and looked out the window. 

"What is it?" 

"Seiji." 

"What?!" 

"I heard him. He was talking to someone." 

"Do you know where he is?" 

"No, but it just got narrowed down to about twenty square miles." 

"Which way?" 

He pointed out towards the new hole in the New York skyline. 

"Do we leave now or at daybreak?" 

"We'll wait. Try and get some rest, Drew. It's going to be a long day." 

"They're all long days." 

She looked up at him. 

"I know." 

******************************************************************************************************************** 

I am stuck here in Atlanta. So I was able to get this together. 

My heartfelt sympathies go to the people of the City of New York, our nation's capital, and the people who's lives were lost on flight 93 that crashed outside of Philadelphia. 

This was a yellow, cowardly act that not only insulted our nation but the rest of the world. I hope that the those who perpetrated and funded this operation will be brought to proper and final justice. 


	23. Intermission

XXIII. Intermission 

His arms wrapped around her waist when she leaned back against him. They had gotten up early. Sara Pezzini had no idea why. Jake kissed the back of her neck while they watched the clock roll over another minute. That 'dream' she has was so strange, if it was even real. She couldn't remember everything that was said, but Sara was sure that it would come back to her. Knowing her luck, it would come when it was too late. 

She remembered, with great clarity, what she thought was the most important part. Getting both Jake and herself through this alive and well. That was what she really wanted. 

"What's wrong?" He breathed into her ear. 

"Some one talked to me after I fell asleep." 

For some reason they spoke in hushed voices. 

"What?" 

"There was this room. It was all dark." 

He pulled her further into his lap. 

"And?" 

"There was this kid. I don't remember his name. But he was tall, taller than you. He had blonde hair, and his eyes were . . . light purple." 

Jake turned his head to look at her. 

"Did he look like he was almost too perfect to be a real human?" 

"Mmhm." 

She sighed and let her head rest on his shoulder. 

"Seiji." 

Jake reached for her phone. She opened her eyes. 

"That was his name. You know him?" 

Did the boy mention Jake? She wished it would all come back to her. Jake dialed a number. 

"Jake? Who are you calling?" 

"Did he tell you where he is?" 

He continued to wait for an answer on the other line. 

"No. I remember that much. Some of it's really hazy." 

"Damn. Not answering. Maybe they'll call me. I made Melissa promise to tell me if anything happened." 

"I guess this was my confirmation." 

"Huh?" 

"He said that someone would let me know that it was real." 

"Sara, what all do you remember." 

She was getting tired. She wanted to sleep. 

"Sara?" 

"He told me about Him." 

"Him?" 

"The killer. The kid said that He was in the same unit as Broody and Xanus." She yawned, "And he gave you the impulse to go to the park." 

Sara closed her eyes, and let his breathing lull her back to sleep. 

* * * * 

"Tell me, Ian." 

"Do you think that the boy's interference will change anything?" 

"Events will fold out as the Blade deems fit." 

"Yes, of course." 

"Though I do suspect that Lady Sara will find a way to turn the tide in her favor." 

Kenneth Irons' head snapped around to glare at his ward. Ian did not lower his head. Irons continued in a somewhat disgusted voice. 

"Yes. I suppose it is possible. She has gathered all her little troops around her. Even three she may no nothing about." 

"Perhaps the two teens will not get to their comrade. He has Halo in a restricted area of the island." 

"That will not stop them." 

"All the security is useless, then? I thought that, at least, Sirous would not try to come from the air. He would be picked up on radar." 

"Even I do not know the full scope of their abilities. They will find away to get there undetected. _If_ they figure out His location. They do not know where they are exactly. If you can get in, then so can they." 

"True. They are impressive." 

"Yes. But they do not have what we need. Lady Sara does." 

* * * * 

"Come on, babe. We have to go get the bad guy." 

Jake McCartey tried to shake the woman in his lap awake. Hopefully, she was too out of it to notice the 'babe' comment. He had no idea if she likes to be called things like that. He had let her sleep, but Sara needed to tell him everything she remembered from her little visit last night. Jake wanted to know how Seiji was involved in all of this. 

She batted his hand away and continued to doze. 

Sigh. 

As much as he would rather be here with her, they needed to crack this case. So that they had time to just be, and not running around looking for a clue. Jake had a feeling that as of last night she knew more than enough to get this thing moving along. And the last thing they needed was to be late. No one wanted to have Dante on their ass. He hoped being early might keep him away for the day. 

He shook Sara again. 

" . . . not now . . . i did my homework . . . " She mumbled. 

Jake grinned at her. He planted a small kiss on her cheek, and shook her harder. Well, he could resort to dropping her, but he did value his life. 

". . .stop it." She murmured. 

"I'm sorry. We have to get going." 

"Don't wanna." 

"Neither do I." 

Her eyes fluttered open to meet his. 

She yawned. 

"He said something about you." 

"Seiji?" 

"I don't remember everything, but he seemed sad." 

"With him who knows. He's not the type to show much of anything. Very stoic and all." 

"Really? Not this time." 

She moved out of his embrace and stretched. He watched her gather her things. She was all his. Jake smiled at the thought. He could barely believe it. He couldn't wait until this was over. Granted, the weird cases always found their way to them, but he hoped that they would have more time. His smile faded. Something was going to happen. There had been this . . .bad, it was the only word that came to mind, feeling that had been following him lately. He hadn't told Sara. He didn't want her to worry. 

Jake did, though. 

As of five years ago, nearly all of his 'freaky vibes', as he had dubbed them, had been justified. He had no idea why that had started happening to him. He signed it off to a side effect of Seiji healing him. Maybe the kid screwed up. Jake _was_ the first normal person he had done that to. 

Either way, something was coming. And feared the out come. 

* * * * 

It was time. In two days he could help the Lady Detective. In two days he could kill off one more Negation. In two more days the world would be a better place. 

He could barely contain himself. 

This was going to be so much fun. He had been planning out the Lady Detective's picture. The white-haired man said he could do whatever he wanted when he gotten what he needed from her. It was going to be so pretty. She would love it. He knew she would. It would be his best piece of art to date. But first he had to show the Lady Detective she had been wrong about her partner. He had to make her realize that even though she had feelings for him, he wasn't worthy of her. No one like the Partner was. Those people needed to be rounded up and disposed of. They were bad for everyone else. Even if the person didn't know it, they were still a threat to the special ones. 

He stuffed his hands in pockets. It was getting colder. Good. 

That would make it better. 

The white-haired man had told him that after he sent the old woman on, it was time to go to a new place. Atlanta had been too hot, and he didn't get much done there. It was similar in New Orleans and in Phoenix. But New York had been the best by far. There were so many different kinds of people. He figured the next best place would be Chicago or Los Angeles. 

There was so much to do. 

He hoped he could do his best to help the people in the next place he went. 

He loved to make things better for people. He knew it. He was only doing his small part in the bigger scale of things, but any little amount helped. Sure, there were others out there who were so much more powerful than he, but he could still help them. He could feel their energy humming in the air. They didn't know that it led him right to the people he needed to help. So he hadn't bothered mentioning it to anyone. It would only slow him down if they knew and tried to hide. Xanus had been able to hide his energy. He didn't like it when people masked their true selves. It was a way of lying, and telling lies was mean. 

And mean people didn't deserve to live. 

**************************************************************************** 

Thanks for all the nice things people are saying. I made it back to school. 

For whoever asked, my major is Classical Archaeology. 

Remember: 10 or the review -a- saurus will come after you. 


	24. Prelude

Thank you for the new chapters Calypso. 

************************************************************************************************************ 

XXIV. Prelude 

"All is ready then?" 

Kenneth Irons smiled. Dante had informed him that his man was ready. Tomorrow night, and he would have his prize. He hung up the phone and stood. He poured himself a bourbon to celebrate. 

Oh, he had waited so long. He had come close before, but never this close. Irons sipped from his drink. Everything he had done, everything he had given up, everyone he had stepped on . . . everyone had had killed; it was all worth it in the end. He would do it all again in a heartbeat if he was given the chance. 

But he shouldn't be too hasty. The future was fickle, and Father Time could change his mind as to the future's fate at a moment's notice. There had been some unexpected turns. He had hoped the Dreams would wear her down. True, he could not decide what the Blade showed her, or when, or why. But he had enough control to encourage their frequency. He did not expect her to discover her partner's unique trait, nor could he stop any feelings she may have been harboring for him. Hopefully, it would not cause too much of a problem for Him. 

This would draw attention, though. He had everything ready to get Him out of New York. He had even called Irons earlier: to thank him for 'opening his eyes to the real word'. He accepted the thanks, it would have been rude to refuse. 

He could barely wait. 

He took another sip. 

Kenneth Irons stared off into the night, humming an old melody, and sipping his bourbon. 

* * * * 

Sara Pezzini scrubbed her hands across her face. They had made some progress. It was a good thing McCartey was persistent, but she still couldn't remember everything that she had talked with the boy about last night. At the moment she was taking a break while she watched Jake speak with General Banner over the phone. 

They were systematically eliminating one SEAL after another. They had five years to go through. So far, aside from the dead ones, all men and one woman were accounted for. There were still a dozen or so to go through. 

"Can you fax me over the photo, sir?" 

She got out of her chair and rounded the desks to look at his computer screen. He passed along the number and continued to scroll down through the information. She placed her hands on his shoulders and began to kneed out the tension. He tilted his head back and smiled in thanks. 

"Yeah, it's coming through." 

Sara reached over and ripped the paper from the machine. She handed it to Jake. They both saw it. 

"There he is." He whispered. 

The face she had seen a few weeks ago at the bridge smiled back at her from the glossy paper. He stood in between the bodies of James Broody and Anton Xanus, all three showing off the same tattoo. 

"The one in the middle, who is he? . . . when? . . . we'll be here. Thank you, sir." He hung up the receiver. 

"His file will be here in about four hours. We need to stay put." 

"Who is he?" 

"General said his name was William Mollard. He was discharged after being declared clinically insane by the resident Navy psychologist, not to mention psychopathic." 

"That's no surprise." 

"Yeah, well, we'll know more when the courier gets here." 

She nodded her head even though he couldn't see her do it. 

"I wonder what was done to him?" 

"Sara, I'm not sure I'd even want to know." 

"I know what you mean." 

He swiveled around in his chair so that he was facing her. 

"Hey, we'll get him. There's no other way to end it." 

Jake's words brought on another rush of images from her talk with the boy. There were a lot of ways to end this, Sara didn't care for the vast majority of them. 

"Sara?" 

She looked down at him. 

"He said we could both die. Or only one of us would live." 

"Seiji told you this?" 

"Mmhm." 

"Was that all he told you?" 

"There was one instance he had seen where we both made it through." 

"That's good enough for me." 

Her eyes narrowed. 

"How can you just shrug that off?! . . . I don't want to be alone." 

"One is better than none," He hugged her middle, "And I'll do anything I can to make sure you won't be." 

* * * * 

Here. 

This was it. 

This was the place. 

He knew it. 

He was supposed to wait here, then he would have his turn. The Lady Detective would be his. 

He wondered if she would see this in a dream. Then he remembered that she was with the Partner, it was highly unlikely that she would. He smirked, it might have kept her away from him if she wasn't constantly around the Partner. But then he couldn't help her if she didn't come. In a way, he would be helping the Partner too. By putting him out of his misery. 

Where did that phrase come from? "Put some one out of their misery." What if they were happy? It was the same with another thing he had heard: "fair and square". What did that mean? 

There were a lot of sayings he didn't understand, but he said them anyway. He vaguely remembered some one teaching him about something called an idiot . . . idiom . . . he couldn't remember. It didn't matter. But it was fun to think about. 

Yes, that's what he would do while he waited for the Lady Detective. He would think about all the silly things that people say. 

William Mollard sat in the dark and laughed to himself for the rest of the night. 

* * * * 

Jason Chance McCartey. He re-read his ID for the thousandth time. Man he was bored. How did they get "Jake" from Jason? He understood how it came out of Jacob. Must have been some weird miscalculation when he was younger. 

He checked his watch. An hour and a half to go. If he had any more coffee he was going to start to bounce off the walls. It looked like Sara had the right idea. How she could sleep right now was beyond him. At least her sleep would be uninterrupted. Even without the coffee he didn't think he would get any shut eye. Who knew, maybe she was still catching up. 

Well, they didn't get too much last night. 

But Jake wasn't about to complain. If anything, he had mentioned _once_ that his back was sore. Of course, he wouldn't mind a repeat of why his back was sore. 

The small grin on his face disappeared when Captain Dante walked by their office. There was that feeling again. It was like a constant chill down his spine. Sometimes it was like something went off in the back of his mind. Radar, sort of. He had never liked the Captain to begin with. Jake had developed a bad taste in his mouth the second he finished reading the file on the man. Aside from his initial connections, there was something else about Bruno Dante that set Jake off. 

Dante's demeanor. 

Dante's attitude towards his partner. His lover. 

Right now the big thing was: why had the Captain been in regular contact with Vorshlage's CEO. 

Jake hadn't figured that one out yet. He could only see the numbers called from the office. Unfortunately, there were no taps on Dante's phone. 

He shivered again. They were getting more frequent. Something was going to happen. Soon. 

He looked across his desk at Sara. 

They couldn't take her away, not now. This guy couldn't. They just couldn't. 

He was in love with her. 

*********************************************************************************************************** 

Hello, 

Sorry that the last few chapters have been kind of short. But they are all little things leading up to the next one. It might take me a while to get chapter 25 out. So I don't want to hear any bad things about me taking my time. I want to do this chapter right. So :::sticks her tongue out at all the mean people::: 

Remember: at least 10. 


	25. The Dream

XXV. The Dream__

_Every single thing we do. Every truth, every lie, every yes or no: all of it is part of the bigger whole: Our entire story. Even then, it is only a small part in the vast and rather incompressible plan of Fate. Whether man creates his own or if it is created for him is not really known. Perhaps, we do. Or maybe our life is decided centuries before our lives come into question. Most tend to think of existence as somewhere in the middle of these two options. Where we are given choices, but the plans for the outcome have already been laid down, patented, and copywriten.___

_There are so many possibilities it makes a person's head spin. Good, evil. Black, white. Angel, devil. Night, day. War, peace. Freedom or slave. It's easy to think in two dimensional terms, it is safer, it's simpler. There is either right or wrong. Unfortunately, most of reality lies in the in-between. In the Gray. And with this realization, comes the loss of innocence and the violent shove into the 'grown up' world.___

_For some, it is too much. And the un-bearableness of it all results in the early termination of their life, and the end of other's.___

_Another possibility, weak and strong.___

_No one is truly sure how one's measure it taken. Or how an individual will stand up to their future. Especially when their Destiny is not set in stone, but rather in wet clay. Only being semi permanent, with more control over their Fate than others could ever hope of receiving in one thousand lifetimes.___

_Everyone is given a test in their proper time.___

_But who decides if we pass or fail?___

_How do we know when it has come?___

_A man once told me would find out at the end of the journey called life. When whatever usefulness we have to this world is done with, then the 'powers' would tell us of the outcome. He forgot to include the souls, like us, who have not left Earth for thousands of years: the protectors of the planet, and it's destroyers. I mean, how could it apply to my borthers-at-arms and myself? When our work is never-ending.___

_There is a Hindu myth that says that, somewhere, there is a great god slowly blinking his eyes. Every time he closes his eyes the universe is destroyed, and upon their re-opening a new universe is created. To start from the beginning again. I kind of like that idea. It gives people like me a second chance.___

_But, for some reason, the story, Fate, has yet to change. Maybe we haven't gotten it quite right yet. It is impossible to tell.___

_Until, and if, we are ever told:___

_We might as well enjoy the more interesting parts.___

_-Last words spoken by Iceani to Jake McCartey in response to the question: "Why?"_

* * * * 

Bruno Dante watched Detectives Pezzini and McCartey pour over something that had been delivered to them a few minutes ago. They knew their killer's name now. He had called Irons, he didn't know if this would set their plans back, or ruin them completely. Irons told him not to worry. It was almost time, and Mollard was in place. He had a high chance of getting the job done. Irons only concern was the interference of some kid . . . he couldn't remember how to say his name. 

Bruno didn't care, as long as that bitch became another crime statistic he would be happy. He did whatever he could to piss her off anyway. From purposely saying her last name wrong to making sure she couldn't find the sugar for her coffee in the morning. If it pissed her off it made him smile. He had Orlinsky and some of his other troops in on it too. But she and McCartey had been too busy as of late for him to be able to bother with having fun. 

He had to act concerned about this case of theirs. Hopefully, McCartey wouldn't be too damaged after this was over. He'd get over Pezzini. Dante had plans for the boy, if he was alive. 

It looked like they had found something, Pezzini picked up the phone and began to talk to someone. McCartey still had his back to him. That was, until his head shot up and he snapped around to meet Dante's eyes. 

"Okay, that was freaky." He mumbled under his breath and turned away from his window. 

He settled back down in his chair and began to finish off his paperwork. He smirked, it didn't matter. No manner of preparation would save her ass at this point. It would take a small miracle. 

Dante eyed his phone. 

With her luck, who knew. 

Just in case. 

He picked up is cell phone and stated to gather his best hit men, just in case she did she was still breathing by the end of the week. 

* * * * 

Somewhere in Manhattan, Date Seiji regained consciousness. He furrowed his brows in an attempt to force the head ache that had immediately followed his conversation with Sara Pezzini to go away. This was so stupid! He should never have been in this position in the first place. 

He hated being this weak of mind. It was a pain the ass. 

He stood up and rolled the kinks out of his neck. He tugged at the chains around his wrists. He could move around a small portion of the room. The cuffs had no locks, if they did he would have unlocked them a long time ago. How the hell did they get welded shut anyway?! From now on he would stay away from New York unless he absolutely had to come here. Another pull at the chains caused the room to shake. Well, at least he was coming back physically faster than mentally 

There was something he hadn't tried yet. A sharp stab of pain ran through his head. So much for trying to move them with his mind. Once he found out what drugs had been injected into his system, he would make a note to loathe them for the rest of human history. Maybe even a little after that, for good measure. He hated medicine. Except aspirin, that was a god send. 

This was so boring. 

Seiji hoped that Detective Woo had kept his promise, unless Pezzini had spoken to Jake. If she remembered enough about him, McCartey could have very well confirmed his being real without Woo having to do so. 

How much would she remember? At the moment, he really couldn't tell. Once he was able to summon his armor, he could heal himself. That could wait, it wasn't as if he couldn't take care of himself without it. Some of his enemies in the past would rather had faced him in Halo that without it. 

All he could really do was wait. He was good at that, normally Seiji was extremely patient. But everyone had their limits. He was tired of being held here. He was sick of all the hidden agendas going on. He didn't like that someone out there thought this was a game. He didn't know who, but if he ever found out they would meet his fist up close and personal. 

It took a lot to get Seiji angry. This wasn't a typical way of thinking for him. He was always the calm one, the rational one. Well fuck that, he was human and a teenager. Maybe it was Sirous' mood influencing him, but he didn't really care. 

Seiji spun around and punched the concrete wall. He didn't take much notice of the blood dripping off of his hand. At the moment he was staring at the huge spider web shaped break that consumed most of the side wall. That was all good and well, but it didn't help him. He was attached to a reinforced steel wall. 

What pissed him off was: if he had been at full strength, that would never had made a difference. 

* * * * 

"Where did he go?" 

"He went to pick something up from the forensics lab, Danny. I get to sit here and wait for the phone to ring." 

"Just wondering, Pez." 

Danny Woo watched his ex-partner sit by the phone. She would look up every time a door opened. She had it bad for McCartey, didn't she? 

"I'm supposed to tell you you didn't have a dream, and that it was real. But you already know that." 

"Then why say anything?" 

"I promised Seiji that I would." 

"I still don't understand how he could talk to you." 

"Neither do I, but it happened. Maybe it was talk to the dead guy night or something." 

She rolled her eyes at him. Another door opened in the main room, Sara stretched to see if it was Jake. 

"It's not him." 

"I can see that." 

" . . . you know that he-" 

"He told me, Danny. I know." 

"You happy about it? He didn't have the best timing on that, I take it." 

"Well, his timing does suck. It makes things . . . if it were after this case is taken care of, I think I might have responded better." 

"Maybe he told you because-" 

"I don't want to think about that! Even if we weren't together, I would want us both to come out of this alive. I almost wish that Seiji didn't tell me that there is a huge chance that we both die. I mean, there's always that chance in our line of work. You know that, but . . ." 

"You don't want to go like that." 

"Yeah. Not when I'm finally happy, Danny." She finished softly. 

"Then tread softly, Grasshopper." She smiled at his comment, "Remember, Sara: Forewarned, Forearmed. You have both of those going for you, you know?" 

"Some of it is still so muddy, though." 

"It's because you're dwelling on some parts. Push those aside and the others will have a better chance of surfacing. Well, with me it did. Everyone's mind works a little differently." 

"Tell me about it." 

He looked at the clock. It was time. Hopefully, McCartey wouldn't come back and interrupt. The large red stone on Sara's wrist began to glow and hum. She looked down at her wrist then back to him. 

"Danny . . ." She trailed off. 

"Don't worry, Pez. I'll be here." 

She fell asleep. 

Danny kept watch over her. 

* * _* *_

_OK . . . she was in what looked like the same place she had spoken with Seiji._

_"Hello!" She called out._

_There was no echo._

_She let out an irritated sigh and began to pace. After some time, she wasn't sure how much time really, she started to walk. She picked a direction and headed out._

_Maybe the Blade would tell her something._

_It stayed silent._

_"Oh, come on! What do you want, huh?! Tell me!!" There was still no echo. It bothered her, in the back of her mind. But this time she got an answer. She strained to hear it. It was little more than voices whispering in the distance._

_"Whatever." She muttered._

_She resumed her trek into the vast nothingness she had been dropped into. Maybe the whispering would get louder. She walked for what seemed like forever and nothing changed. No, something had changed. It was silent again. When did that happen? She strained to hear anything aside from her own breathing. There was a sudden surge and for an instant it was of everyone had been shouting in her ear at the same time. Then another moment of silence. She covered her ears when the sounds began to grow again. This time so loud that she couldn't hear the thoughts in her own mind._

_It stopped._

_There was a sudden heat on the back of her neck. She tensed. It - it felt like there was someone breathing . . . She could feel whoever it was smile. There was a loud scream and the floor disappeared from beneath her feet._

_She fell._

_Sara distantly realized that the scream had been her own._

_Did bottom not exist in this place?_

_Her question was answered when she hit cold, wet concrete. Hard. A water pipe somewhere?_

_He was here. How she knew it was a male was beyond her. There was something else wrong, her wrist . . . the bracelet was gone. He was behind her again, still smiling. She scrambled to her feet and ran. The water under her feet provided no stealth. She was afraid, she hated being afraid._

_There was a light. If, if she could make it there she would be safe. She needed to be safe. Away from him, anywhere but here. He was still behind her, still smiling. Why couldn't she get away?_

_Please god . . . if you exist . . ._

_She hadn't prayed in over a decade. She vaguely wondered if it would do any good._

_She turned a corner, maybe she could lose him. All these pipes looked the same: cold, dark, and damp. She didn't care where she went, as long as it took her as far as she could get from him. The light wasn't getting any closer._

_Huh? She couldn't feel him anymore. She turned to look behind her as she was running. She wasn't about to slow down. The decision was taken away from her when she ran into someone._

_Jake._

_"Oh god."_

_She pulled him to her and kissed him for all she was worth. She would be safe now. He broke off the kiss and spoke into her ear._

_"You should be more careful, Sara. You're bleeding." He said it like it was an everyday thing._

_"Wha?"_

_She was confused. She looked down to where his eyes were focused and took notice that her once white shirt, was now covered in dark crimson. Most of it coming from a huge gash that spanned most of her mid section._

_"J-Jake?"_

_He was gone. The man was back. She couldn't run anymore. He was still smiling. His face was so close. He started to laugh. It was louder than the voices had been earlier. Why wouldn't he stop?_

_Just go away!_

_"Please!" She screamed._

_There was a shift in the dank air. He was going to finish her. Somehow she knew it._

_The world went white._

_* * * *_

Jake McCartey walked back into his office to see his partner literally jump out of her chair, and biting back what he could only assume was a scream. 

"Sara?" 

She seemed to get her bearings on her surroundings. She finally met his eyes. 

Good lord what had she seen? 

He didn't equate the word afraid and the name Sara Pezzini, but here it was: she was terrified. He shut the door behind him and approached her carefully. The bracelet on her wrist was glowing an angry red. He didn't want to be on the wrong end of that if she was jumpy. 

"Sara? What happened?" 

"I-I . . ." 

Maybe if he changed the subject. 

"I have the results of the tests." He offered up tentatively. 

She swallowed and nodded her head, 

"Are you all right?" 

She shook her head no. 

Oh, he was never too good at this kind of thing. He was great with strangers, but when it came to people he knew . . . he had a running trend of getting yelled at. Well, there was always the good old standby way of doing things. 

He pulled her into an embrace. Maybe he shouldn't say anything. 

"I saw it." Sara spoke into his chest. 

Oh yeah, he did it right. McCartey, one: whatever the other team is, zero. 

"What did you see?" 

"He was there, I couldn't get away from him. There were all these voices. They wouldn't stop screaming, it was so loud I couldn't hear anything." 

"You had another dream?" 

"About me, this time." 

"More of a vision then?" 

Another nod. 

"What happened?" 

"There was nothing, then there was so much noise. I . . . I felt someone behind me. He was smiling at me, not in a good way. I fell, and then I ran. The Witchblade was gone, And I just wanted to get away. There were all these tunnels, and he went away for a while. Then I ran into you." She spewed out the details like a child who was recalling a nightmare to its parents. 

"What did I do?" 

"You told me I was bleeding. You said it like it was nothing, an everyday thing. Then I looked down, and there was this huge tear across my stomach. He was back, and I couldn't get away. He was going to . . . kill me. And I woke up. It took forever." 

"I was only gone about twenty minutes." 

"It felt like longer." 

"I bet." 

Jake tightened his arms around her. 

"What did the results say?" 

Changing the subject. He thought that was his territory. 

"Sara, maybe you shou-" 

"It will help." 

"You sure?" 

"Yeah. 

"All right." 

He let go of her and picked up the folder he had set down on his desk. 

"Well. It's weird. Really weird. There are pieces missing, in his DNA. It looks like some segments have been replaced with sections that are from somewhere else. Some look like they've been engineered. Other's have mutated, as far as they can tell. They've been observing at this ever since we found that smudge of blood at the Currie murder. And it's still changing." 

She ran a shaky hand through her hair. Maybe he could come up with something later to make her feel better. 

"Changing how?" 

"They don't know. But it's occurring so fast that they can observe it as it happens. In short, William Mollard is no longer, on the genetic level, human." 

********************************************************************************************** 

Hello all, 

I was on a roll. It came quick. 

Well, I'm not so sure how this chapter turned out. I think it fits. By the way, I don't think this will go over 35 chapters. I doubt it. I'm amazed I made it this far. 

Oh, the top is not a ramble. It is part of the chapter. 

I re-read the story and found several places where I left room for side stories. Most of them were intentional, one or two weren't. You know: missing scenes, some about a character's past, stuff like that. I do intend to do another story that has nothing to do with "Dreams" once I'm through with it. I don't know what it will be about yet, but feel free to email me ideas if you want. 

Remember 10. 


	26. A Cold Winter's Night

Well, 

I got my first bad review. It was from some psycho out there who said that he/she hated my story and it was revolting that I had put Sara and Jake together. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Isn't that sweet :::sarcastic tone::: 

Pal, I got a few words for ya. Well, more like a symbol :P :::blows them a raspberry::: 

HA!!!!!! 

Thanks for all the great reviews, aside from the afore mentioned person. I was extremely flattered by several of them. 

Artsy? I don't get it. 

************************************************************************************************************** 

XXVI. A Cold Winter's Night 

To be totally honest, it had completely surprised Him that no one had seen him sitting here laughing to himself. He had thought of some pretty funny things. Language was a riot. It had been hard to stay still, though. Several people who were special had passed him by. But, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't leave his spot. She would be here tonight. His Lady Detective, would be coming. 

His smile grew wider. 

He had to do this perfectly. She would appreciate it more in the end. Everything would be perfect: her picture, the Partner's death, and the rest of his work. 

The white-haired man had had made sure that things had moved as smoothly as possible. He was such a nice man. He needed the Lady Detective. He needed something she had, but she wouldn't give it to him. Even though it had belonged to him first. The white-haired man said that once He had helped her, she would understand. She would be happier. He got the impression that Lady Detective was sad a whole lot. 

It was too bad. She looked pretty when she smiled. 

By tomorrow night, she wouldn't have to worry about being sad anymore. She would learn that she could live without the Partner. She would learn that there were others who were more worthy of her time. She would learn that the others needed her to be with them in the batter place. 

He checked his supplies again. He had everything to make her picture. As for the other, he would use his training to take care of him. He would give the Partner the honor of a quick death. He could make the Lady Detective smile, he had to be worth something if he could do that. However small that something was, it had saved him from a very slow end. 

He would still enjoy it, but it wouldn't be as satisfying. 

He could live with it. 

* * * * 

It was lunch time. 

Sara Pezzini wasn't overly hungry at the moment. The mere thought of food wasn't sitting too well with her at the moment. It wasn't helping that the smell of Lubin's meatball sub had permeated the entire floor. She felt like she was going to be sick. 

"Jake, I need to go outside." 

"Are you all right?" 

"The smell of Lubin's lunch is making me queasy." 

"I thought you used to always half his lunch with him?" 

"Yeah, but my stomach's still doing flips from earlier this morning." 

"You want me to come?" 

"Nah, I'm just going to stand outside the door." 

Jake raised an eyebrow at her. She knew what he was asking. 

"I'm not going to take off on my own. I wouldn't want to." 

"I'll be right here, in the vortex of paper." 

She gave him a small smile. He was lying through his teeth. 

"I'll be back." 

She left him to his 'vortex' and stepped out the side door. It had gotten even colder. Whoever controlled the weather needed to make up their minds. 

"I wouldn't bother, Pez. It's only going to get colder." 

She smiled again. Danny had been gone when the vision ended. 

"Where'd you go?" 

"Oh, you know. To do dead guy stuff. Scare a little kid here, break a glass or two there. Nothing big." 

"Cute Danny. What happened to the I'm not a ghost thing." 

"I'm not. That's what you call me. So that's what I'll be." 

"So, if I tell you that you're my rent check that's what you'll be." 

"Nope. You know, intangible and all that. Besides, being a piece of paper is no fun." 

Sara stepped of to the side to let an officer pass. It seemed that no one noticed her talking to herself. It was amazing what people overlooked in this city. Its how so many murders were never even known about. People just don't want to get involved. Most of the time, if a person is witness to a crime, they tended to push it to the back of their minds. Have to get home, to the kids, don't have time to stand around and wait. 

It also made for easy talk. Chances are, everyone just thought she was crazy. And she could live with that. After all, was anyone really sane to begin with? 

"What can you tell me about my vision, Danny?" 

His face fell. Oh boy, this was one of those 'I can't tell you any thing but don't worry I've already told you everything' deals, wasn't it? 

"Pez, I-" 

"You know what, forget it Danny. Its only my life, it's only Jake's life, it's only whoever else this guy goes after. Damn it, Danny! Tell me something, bend the fucking rules, would ya! One way or another, we're gonna meet this guy! And one or both of us will die! Tell me something! Anything! Danny, I . . . I need help. Don't let it happen, please." 

She kept her eyes focused on the snow beneath her feet. After a while she thought that Danny had disappeared, but when she looked up he was still there. Staring at the traffic that was whizzing by. 

"You now what one of the things I miss about being alive is, Pezzini? Surprises. Seiji was right. there are infinite possibilities for everything. But they've all been . . . written, that's the best word for it. The cool thing about you being who you are now, is that you have more freedom to make those choices than the normal human. You see, they say yes or no and then they follow down whatever path was laid out. In that way, they control their destiny to some degree. But not you. You have to make yes or no happen, you have to use the very few points that are set in your fate to find your way to the next one. If you want both of you to live, Sara, make it happen. And there a huge possibility that it will. The reason that Seiji would only see versions of the future where you or McCartey are dead, is because that's all you think can happen. Determination is a powerful thing. He tried to tell you that, he may have been a bit too subtle though." 

"Where'd that one come from, more Confucius?" 

"No. Closer than you think. It's my quick version of something that Iceani girl told Jake when he asked her 'why'. He knows it by heart." 

"So, a la Disney, if I believe it will happen." 

"No." 

"But you just said-" 

"Belief is part of it. There's a lot more to it. I can believe I'm alive all I want, but that doesn't make it so. The closer it comes, the narrower the options get. Just be prepared, Pez. You know who Mollard is, you know what he's capable of, you know why he want's the both of you. You have that much less to worry about." 

"Forewarned, Forearmed, huh?" 

"Yes my child." 

She laughed. 

"You know all that sounds like a load of shit." 

"Yeah, but it true. Besides, you have to pull through this alive. I don't know if I could stand to have you around me all the time on this side." 

"Whatever." 

"Good luck tomorrow." 

"What?" 

She looked over her shoulder to not see Danny. 

She needed to find a away to put a bell on him. 

It was time to go back in. She needed to talk to Jake. 

* * * * 

Kenneth Irons checked his watch. A few more hours and He would have her. It was time to prepare. 

"Ian. It is time." 

"What will you do if He fails?" 

"Try another way. Though I would loathe to send you after our Fair Lady. But do not worry. It will not come to that." 

Yes. Nottingham had become somewhat protective of Ms. Pezzini. Irons didn't know if he would be able to carry out the task if he sent him out to . . . subdue the Detective. He would have to make sure that the emotional error would be corrected if Ian ever met with an accident. 

"What should I do, sir?" 

"Wait with me. Help me prepare should our man accomplish his goal." 

"Of course." 

Irons laid his watch out on the desk in front of him. It no longer told the time. It was only right twice a day. But 11:11 was all that mattered to him. Everything important in his world happened at 11:11. Tonight would fall victim to that time slot. 

He stood and let his ward lead him to the small shrine room he had in his home. 

There was a slight bounce in his step. 

* * * * 

"Thanks, dude . . . no problem . . . really? . . . freaky . . . nah, we'll be heading out soon . . . sure . . . just have it sent over when it's finished . . . give it to Smitty . . . no, he'll make sure it gets to us and not lost in the squad room . . . Thanks again, man . . . later." 

Detective McCartey hung up the phone them moment his partner came back into the office. 

"That was the lab guys, they'll sent the results over when the tests are through." 

"Good." 

"What'd Vicki have to say?" 

"Looks like Mollard uses a power saw to hack up his bodies, Unfortunately he does such a good job that she can't identify what kind of blade was used." 

"Ow." 

She wasn't doing too well. That vision she had was really eating at her. She had seemed a little better when she came back inside earlier. He had gone through as much of William Mollard's medical history and what few documents that related to the test project that he was a part of in hopes of finding something new. He had found something, but it hadn't made Sara overly happy, if anything it made her mood even worse. Mollard had been discharged on the recommendations of a psychiatrist, who happened to have been hand picked by Kenneth Irons. Oh joy. Jake had a fleeting thought a few moments ago. What if Irons was helping Mollard? As a way to get to Sara. He would put it past him. The guy was out of his mind. The entire time they had been at his office had made his skin crawl. 

He didn't get the feeling from Nottingham. He really couldn't hold much against the guy. Irons was the only family he had ever known. He was doing his job, and protecting the closest thing he had to a father. But did he have to be so damn scary about the whole thing? When Jake had confronted him on the roof, he had had been proud of himself for not showing how afraid he was. Jake knew what Nottingham was capable of. Afterward he had banged his head against the door jamb for being so stupid. But still, he had to know Irons' goal, his plans. He was protective of Sara, that much was obvious. So if he knew his employer was up to, why wouldn't he try to warn her? There was something else between Jake and Nottingham, he just didn't know what it was. He didn't have time to think about it right now. 

There were some weird people out there. 

He looked at the clock. It was getting close to 9:30. It was time to go. 

"Sara." 

"Hmm." 

"Come on, let's get out of here." 

* * * * 

Neither of them had any food worth trying to eat at their place. Sara guessed that with all the running around, both of them had forgotten about some little things. Like grocery shopping. At least Jake hadn't forgot to pay his gas bill. It had slipped her mind. It was a good thing she didn't have any pets, or they would have frozen by now. She had done that once. She thought her pet goldfish would like to play in the snow when she was four. Well, Goldie didn't take too well to sub zero temperatures, neither did his water. 

They had gone out to eat. Jake had offered to foot the bill since she was having trouble keeping the heat on at her place. He wouldn't let her live it down. In retaliation, she had smacked him upside the head. He still didn't stop laughing after that. It was kind of funny, but it had gotten old. 

"Man, it's cold." 

"You missing that warm California sun, McCartey?" 

"Oh yeah. I should take you out there sometime. I think you'd enjoy yourself." 

"Perhaps." 

"Maybe . . ." 

"What?" 

"I could get you on a surfboard." He finished quickly. 

She stopped walking. 

"No." 

"Aww, come on Pez. It's fun." 

"No." 

"What if I ask nicely?" 

"No." 

"I'll give you a shinny nickel." 

"As tempting as that might be, I'll have to pass." She spoke in a sarcastic tone. He had been like this all night. She knew why he was doing it, and it had worked. She had almost forgotten about the vision she had earlier. 

"Hold on a few, Jake. I'll be right back." 

"Sure thing." 

She stepped inside the store. And made her way to the bathroom. She opened the door and plucked several paper towels from the dispenser. She needed to wash her face to wash away all the tear streaks from earlier. She hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, and the joke that Jake had told was so stupid. 

What time was it? 

11:09. 

They had been out for a while. She eyed the emergency exit. Well, she was a police officer. And it would be quicker than going through the store again. 

Why the hell not. Whatever happens, happens. Right? 

She pushed open he door and turned towards the street. 

She didn't see the man sitting on the stairs. All she would later remember was a hand grabbing her wrist, and the bracelet being torn from her arm with no resistance: and thinking how stupid she had been before her world was swallowed by darkness. 

11:11. 


	27. Persephone

Or else, huh? 

I don't know if anyone remembers, but I made a comment on what would happen if a lot of people started telling me that. Listen, I stop the chapters when 1) I run out of rhythm, 2) when my mind goes so totally blank that I can't remember my own name, and 3) when I think it's a good stopping point. I left it at '11:11' because that's when everything major seems to happen in her life. I stopped it there because I got out of my groove (don't screw up the groove, i.e. - Emperor's New Groove. I love that movie, it's hilarious! . . . sorry). 

I'll have you know that the story IS complete . . . in my head. But sometimes it's hard to put thoughts into words. There's transitions, and impact points, and all that technical shit that you don't even realize you're doing, but I'm taking into account because like I said in the very beginning, many many moons ago, I'm trying to improve my writing skills. I have big problems writing in the 3rd person omniscient for some reason, supposedly that's the easiest one to write in. I can handle 3rd limited and 1st person just fine. (Actually if you go back to the beginning you'll se that the first few chapters are written in the present, and not the . . . historical present? Is that what its called when you write about the now, but use the past tense? Or is it . . . sorry, all the foreign language I take makes me analyze everything. It's kind of scary.) 

But I got off track. 

Note: I am normally not a mean person, but I'll kick some metaphorical ass if need be. 

For those of you who don't like cliffhangers, intentional or not, get over it. You know that there'll be another chapter. And I AM trying to get this done before I start on drafting my first research paper. I'll write through the gathering and screaming for help parts of the process, but when it comes to sitting down and laying it out, and making sure I'm writing about the right thing (it would be kind of bad if I turned in something on the wrong topic) don't expect to hear from me for about a week. 

Sorry for wasting space. I needed to say a few things. 

PS- I put up Christmas lights in my dorm. They're pretty. 

I'll stop now. 

*************************************************************************************************************** 

XXVII. Persephone 

Jake McCartey sat back and watched the team try to piece together what had happened. It looks like there had been no struggle. 

A few hours ago he had another one of those vibes of his. She had only been gone a few minutes. He didn't know what had happened, but it wasn't good. He had pulled his weapon and badge and ran through the store to try and find Sara. She wasn't in the rest room. He had gone out the emergency exit. There still was nothing. So he called out her name. The only answer he got was the slight echo of his own voice off the alley walls. Then a small glowing light had caught his attention. 

This was important. 

Mainly because the light was a deep crimson red. 

It was the Witchblade. 

It had been taken off her wrist. 

Jake knew instantly what had happened. 

Mollard had her. 

After punching the wall for being an idiot for letting her go off by herself, he had called it in. The others had arrived shortly after. He gave his statement and had been ordered to leave the premises while it was investigated. 

He didn't give them the bracelet. 

It was still glowing. 

It wanted its host. 

Jake ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He needed to find Sara. Before anything happened. Please don't let anything happen. 

He needed help. He pulled out his cell and searched through his directory for a number. 

"She had better pick up." 

* * * * 

McCartey's rather frantic call had come through a while ago. Orlinsky had paged him to tell him the good news. It was starting. Soon that bitch would be a thing of the past. 

"Hell yeah." 

Bruno Dante took another swig of his beer. Tonight was a night to celebrate. He and the boys were going to have a little get together at his place when all their shifts ended. This was so sweet. The only thing that could make this night any better, aside from getting laid, would be to hear the news that her body had been found. He'd go out there for that one. Pictures just wouldn't do it justice. 

No. 

He had to see that in person. 

Not that he wouldn't get copies of the photos for his personal collection. Too bad he wouldn't be able to frame them and hang them on his wall. 

The only problem now would be if she managed to worm her way out of it. His men were in place. It would take an act of god for her to come out alive. 

Jake would miss her though. It might be a little tough getting him to come around after Pezzini was dead. 

Oh well, he would get over it. 

* * * * 

Iceani knelt in the snow next to her friend. He had collapsed sometime ago. Clutching his head in pain. They had been discussing where to look next. They decided that they needed to find a a way into the southern part of the island. Going under the clean up barricades, in to the subway, was too dangerous. The ground was still unstable. And Drew taking them over would be too conspicuous. 

So they had decided that they would just have to slip through. Not that it would be overly challenging, but caution was always needed. Just in case. 

You never knew who was in play. 

He had begun to mention something, and his voice had drifted off. 

A few moment later, he had cried out in pain and fell to the ground. 

That was half an hour ago. 

Drew hadn't moved since. 

And she was beginning to worry. 

He wasn't prone to things like this. 

"Come on, man. Wake up or something." She shook him. 

Nothing. He was breathing normally. His pulse was strong. What was wrong? 

She let out a small cry of surprise when he bolted up right into a sitting position. A smile spread across his face. 

She slapped him on his shoulder. 

Hard. 

"Ow!!! What the fuck was that for?!" 

"Idiot! What the hell were you doing?" 

He began to laugh. 

"Drew, I think you finally lost it." 

"Who me? No no no no. I just found it." 

* * * * 

Ian Nottingham watched to two youths from the roof top of a nearby building. Sirous had 'found it'. He could only assume that his connection with his comrade had been re-established to some degree. Enough for him to hone in on his friend's location. Irons had done his best ot explain how the two were connected, but it was difficult being that Irons himself was unsure on how it worked. But Ian understood better than Irons knew. He had remembered something. It would have been . . . he laughed at the number of years. He smirked, why was it that something's were easier to recall than others? And what decided who would remember their past selves, and who wouldn't? 

That was another answer the normal population would never be ready to hear. 

Sirous picked up the girl and rose several feet above the ground. He made his way in a direct line to where ever he was going. When Irons had mentioned them going 'over' he had assumed it would be on roof tops, not by air. It was curious; how he was able to do that. Humans, normal ones anyway, were not designed for flight. But Sirous apparently gave its bearer that ability. Truthfully, Ian was a little envious. Who wouldn't be? 

"What?" 

The boy stopped upon hearing the sound. 

He listened again. Someone had . . . yelled something. 

Her name. 

Not that it was all too unusual. That was how you sumoned her, but it was _how_ her name had been pronounced. And that you had to be listening for it. 

The look on her face told Ian everything he needed to know. 

"Oh, any thing but that. He'll be even worse." 

Some one had summoned Iceani. In a manner that had not been used in a few thousand years. He could only think of six or so people, mainly old and doting history professors, who could possibly figure out what to say. The remaining few would have to look to memories of their former selves to know. 

Some one upstairs was laughing. Ian was sure of it. 

A wave of her hand and she disappeared from Sirous' hold. He left and kept on towards his friend. Nottingham knew what would happen with the girl. 

Besides he might feel the need to help the other. 

* * * * 

Nothing. 

Either she didn't have her phone on her, she had it turned off, or its batteries were dead. Jake paced his living room. He didn't know where to begin to look for Sara. 

And now that it was 'personal', the worthless piece of shit that was Bruno Dante had pulled him from the case. He was hoping it would go to Lubin and Helstrom, but it didn't. The Captain had handed it to Orlinsky. He wouldn't do anything to find Sara. Oh, he'd do superficial things to make it look like he was working hard, but Orlinsky was Dante's right hand man. Nothing would come of his investigation except dead ends, and the eventual discovery of . . . 

No! He wouldn't think of that! She was going to live! 

He pressed re-dial on his phone when he passed by it. Her voice mail again. 

"Damn it! Pick up your fucking phone!" 

Jake slumped down on his couch. He stared at the Witchblade on his coffee table. It was still doing its little glowing thingy. He couldn't tell if it was sad, anxious, or angry. Sometimes you could tell by how it was glowing and what not. Right now, all it reminded him of was a flash light. 

He pressed re-dail again. 

This was so frustrating! Where the hell was she? He needed her help. She had promised. A long time ago. She had promised to be there if he needed help. He didn't remember where she said it, let alone when. All Jake knew was that she had said it and he had been there to hear it. 

"Where are you?" 

He held his hands in his hands and rocked back and forth. This wasn't right. Sara hadn't done anything. Why couldn't whatever power that was out there just leave her alone? He didn't think that was too much to ask. 

Jake leaned his head back against the couch and glared at his ceiling. Maybe Melissa would get his voice mails. Probably not. In desperation he yelled her name. Maybe that would get her attention. He didn't care if he woke anyone up. They could get over it. 

Only two others recognized how he had spoken her name. He wasn't one of them. 

Too bad. 

He squeezed his eyes shut. He hated feeling like this. No that any one liked to feel helpless. The fact that all but one of his resources were useless made it even worse. 

Why couldn't thing be quiet and nor- 

A rapid knock at his door broke his train of though. He put the bracelet in his pocket and scrambled to the door, falling over his coffee table in the process. 

It was her. 

He opened the door and let her in. 

"Where that hell have you been?! I've been trying to call you!" 

"You did call me, Jake. Here I am." 

"She's gone." 

"Pardon?" 

"Sara. He-he took her." 

"Do you know who?" 

"Mollard! You know, the guy who's been hacking people up!" 

"Calm down, and quit yelling. Now, when did this happen?" 

"About five hours ago. Dante gave to case to Orlinsky, 'Cani. Nothing will get done with him on it, you know that! I need y-" 

"Of course. Drew's found Seiji, sort of. He doesn't need me right now." 

His eyes widened. 

"Did Seiji tell him-" 

"No, not like that. But he can feel him again; in the back of his mind." 

His looked down at her in disbelief. She didn't know. 

"You don't know, then?" 

She shook her head. 

"Know what, Jake?" 

"I've, um, I've been trying to get in touch with you for sometime. Seiji 'spoke' with Sara. He was taken by Mollard. He's had him the whole time. If I knew that all I had to do was yell your name . . ." 

He didn't get a reply. She didn't speak for a long moment. Her eyes were focused on the floor. 

"Melissa?" 

"We should go." She whispered. 

"Where?" 

She looked up at him. Still silent. He couldn't tell what she might have been thinking. There was no expression on her face. There was one thing, she was tired. He vaguely wondered what she had been up to before she had come to New York. 

She broke her silence. 

"Vorshlage." 

Jake narrowed his eyes, "Does he-" 

"Most likely. I don't think that if we meet with Drew after he gets Seiji that we'll run into your man. Whatever was used to keep Seiji sedated has worn off. Which means one of two things: he's forgotten about him, or Mollard no longer thinks that Seiji holds any importance." 

"Are you mad with yourself?" 

"Why do you ask that?" 

"You don't normally . . . you don't look too good, and speak in monotone. You shouldn't be mad, you're not all seeing. No one is." 

"In an odd way, I used to be." 

"That was a long time ago." He muttered. 

"Excuse me?" 

"What?" 

"What did you say?" 

"I said that you shouldn't be-" 

"After that." 

" . . . . . I didn't say anything." 

Iceani stared at him for a few seconds. That was the thing that sucked about being her. No one could lie when she was around. He honestly hadn't heard himself. Not that it mattered any. She knew who he was. She knew who all of them were. Irons, Nottingham, Pezzini, Woo, and everyone else who was playing a major role. She had met them all before. Only she was the same, and they had all changed. 

Well, not all of them. He was still a beach bum. 

"We should go, Jake." 

He held up his car keys and opened the door for her. He was about to shut the door behind him when he stopped. He looked back at where he had been sitting. 

"What the?" He spoke under his breath. 

"Jake!" 

"I'm coming." He mumbled. 

What was up with that? He looked back at her, then back into his home. He had never heard anyone say it like that before. 

"Jake!" 

He shut the door and locked it. 

He'd think about it later. 

* * * * 

It was cold. 

And wet. 

Sara Pezzini opened her eyes and squinted. There were several bright lights, but he rest of the area was bathed in darkness. Her head throbbed. She reached up to touch her temple. It was so sore. 

Her hand came back down. Her finger tips showed traces of blood. He must have hit her there to knock her out. 

The Witchblade was gone. 

Seiji had warned her not to rely on it to protect her. 

Why did she feel like she could go off by herself. She and Jake had discussed that they stood a better chance to together than alone. So what did she do? She walked into a dark alley. In New York City. Alone. And this is where it got her. She would just have to find a way out of this. 

But she was on her own. Without the Gauntlet, she couldn't see Danny. She could do this. She would find a way. She wasn't going to be another one if this guy's 'pictures'. If anything, she'd redecorate with _him_. 

Her surroundings finally came into focus. Oh great, it was the place from her vision. 

"Forewarned. Forearmed, Sara." She whispered to herself. 

"Okay, I-I need to find a weapon and look for a way out. I can't bee too far from the city if the tunnels look like this." 

She stood up and steadied herself on the wall when the world began to spin. Perfect. She had a concussion. 

"Can't let that bother me." 

Sara picked a direction and began to walk. She kept her hand on the wall, and hoped that she wasn't going the long way. It looked like she was in one of the older subway tunnels. There would have to be some way to the surface. If the was going the right way. She might walk for miles until she found a way out. She wouldn't run. She had run in her vision, and she would do her damnedest to make sure nothing turned out like it did in that. 

"No running in the halls." She joked to herself. 

"Make it happen." She repeated it over and over in a hushed whisper. 

She didn't need some funky hunk of metal to get out of this. She hadn't needed it before. She didn't need it now. But then, she hadn't dealt with any thing like this before she encountered the Witchblade. She had to admit, she had gotten used to being able to whip out the Blade and scare the shit out of her opponents. 

Maybe this was a lesson. The girl from China had been punished in one of her dreams for her ego. Maybe this was the Blade's way of telling her that it wasn't a solution to everything in the world. And the vision had been her warning. 

She should have known better than to get a straight answer from anything anymore. She side stepped a puddle of water and continued on down the tunnel. The slight rumbling above her signified a train moving past. 

She was under the subway. These must be the maintenance tunnels. Sara continued to make her way down the corridor. The figure behind her kept himself at a safe distance. 

It would be time soon, she was going right where he wanted her to be. 

He smiled. 

She would like the place he had chosen for her picture. 

It was pretty. Like she was. 

********************************************************************** 

I have two papers due in about three weeks. They're fairly easy, but I need to concentrate on them. I'll try to get a chapter out next week sometime, but It's midterm time as well. :::Screams at the thought of more tests::: 

I wish it were Saturday. 


	28. Hell

Hello all, 

It's been a while, but paper number one is done a through with. Only two more to go. Next one is due on the seventh, only 2200 words . . . nothing much compared to what this thing has turned out to be. Well, I had intended to put out _Regression_ as one, long fic but decided to upload the first part as a peace offering for not having out anything up in a while. 

Little bit about it. Like in the summary on my site, it is a request history. The email ran along the lines of thinking that Jake and Iceani (I should have picked a different pin name, it creeps me out to write it out . . . too late. I'll just have to get over it) seemed to get along too well for barely knowing one another, he (anonymous email dude) wanted me to explain why. So, I decided to take the thing that my friend wrote that actually introduced the character and throw him in there. Actually, chapter 27 isn't the one I was going to publish, but I wanted to make the main story and any side ones as relevant to each other as possible, and I had already talked about the whole 'reincarnation, hey don't I know you?' type thingy. And I had several other emails that wanted something along those lines. 

But here's the next chapter, and I hope I haven't lost too much momentum. 

Remember 10. :::the review - a - saurus chomps down on some non believers::: 

**************************************************************************************************************   
XXVIII. Hell 

He could hardly believe that she had done it. She had given the man plenty of warning, but one had to remember that she didn't bluff. You got a warning, then a promise. Kenneth Irons had learned, personally, the hard way. Jake McCartey didn't mean to laugh, but he couldn't help himself. Seeing the multibillionaire tossed around by a girl was too much. He had laughed so much his sides hurt. 

He wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve. 

They had come here to find out what involvement Irons had with Seiji and Sara's disappearances. When Iceani had asked him what Irons had to do with it, he had remained silent. Knowing that he couldn't lie to her. Oh, he could think of what he wanted to say all he wanted, but once he opened his mouth the truth would come out. It got people in to trouble that didn't know that little detail about her. She had asked him again, she added that if he didn't answer she would drag it out of him. 

And Kenneth Irons proceeded to prove that even he was capable of moments of severe stupidity. 

He had kept his mouth shut. Iceani had stayed true to her word. 

The look on her face when Irons didn't respond to her had given Jake a brief flash back of when they had met in Japan. She had been mildly psychotic at the time, and he had learned that she was capable of anything and everything. She would kill the man if she wanted to. There would be no hesitation on her part. 

He wouldn't stop her. He didn't care what happened to Irons as long as Sara was all right in the end. 

But they needed to hurry. 

Damn. He wondered if Irons knew that he might actually die tonight. He shook his head and walked through the wrecked office to find his companion. It was interesting. She was just playing around with him. Normally, one hit and he should have been dead. But, unfortunately, Irons needed to keep his pulse for a little while longer. Jake stepped around a puddle of ice on the floor and stepped into the adjoining room to find Iceani holding a katana to the billionaire's throat. He could see small rivulets of red running down the blade. It looked like she had smacked him around a bit. He would have to ask here where she kept pulling her weapons from. 

"I hate to interrupt, but-" 

"Detective McCartey, is it not your civic duty to protect-" 

"Mr. Irons, you do realize that she's just been playing around," she pushed the blade further down on his neck, "you're only alive because she's let you live this long. I couldn't stop her if my life depended on it. And, yeah it is my 'duty', but you're not exactly innocent." 

"I'll give you one more chance, Kenny." She practically growled it out. 

He didn't answer her. 

Jake shifted his eyes to meet Iceani's blue ones. He shook his head 'no'. Irons' wasn't going to talk. He was too stubborn. Her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her sword off Irons' neck and prepared to finish what she had started. She stopped the decent of the blade. Wasn't she going to off him? 

"Melissa?" 

"We have to go." The blade disappeared. 

"What about him?!" 

"Drew has found Seiji." 

He looked down at Irons. 

"But-but he, he's hurt people!" 

"So have I, Jake." 

"This is . . . end it. He doesn't deserve to keep going." 

"Don't go down that way, Jake. Once you decide who goes and who doesn't . . . then you'd be like him. Like me. It's not you, McCartey." 

He looked back down at Irons. His hand was holding his hand over the cut across his jugular. 

"_I_ don't think that anything you've done makes you like him." 

"I honestly don't know if I am or not.." 

He pulled his keys out of his pocket, "Let's jet." 

* * * * 

It would have been quite a sight if these tunnels had been in regular use. How many people would believe that a teenage boy would be flying through the air. He loved being Sirous, though he missed his predecessor. 

The connection they shared was rather remarkable. He mused. Normally it was a direct link up in their minds, but even now when all he could tell was that Seiji was alive, it was enough for him to know exactly where his 'brother' was. He made another sharp turn through the dark tunnel and speed on ahead. 

"I wonder if Nottingham was able to keep up?" He mumbled. He would have offered the guy a ride, but he was in a hurry. After all, knocking him out earlier had been kind of a rude thing to do, but he had been pissed. That was another reason it was a good thing that he was back in touch with Seiji. They provided balance for on another. Without Seiji, he became extremely violent and hot tempered. Hell, it was why his armor had the name it did. Storms were full of rage, and that trait was only kept in check by Halo's calm. It worked the opposite way on the other end, most of the time. Seiji would get so introspective that it made you want to kill him. Strange how some things worked. 

"Shit." 

Drew Newell stopped himself. The feeling had gotten weaker. He had gone too far. He moved back slightly. 

"There you are." 

He set himself down on the floor. Seiji was right underneath him. And he was pissed. That was never a good thing. Everything hits the fan when Halo gets ticked. He smiled. He knelt and pulled his fist back, hopefully there would be too much debris, and punched the floor. 

His hand went all the way through the concrete and ripped a good portion of the floor away when he brought his hand back to him. Another one of the armor's gifts. He had often wondered exactly _how_ physically strong he was. He hadn't had a chance to find out, the opportunity had never presented itself. 

Drew poked his head through the hole. 

"Hey man." 

Seiji looked up. 

"A little warning next time, Drew. You just added on to my headache." 

He sounds tired, he thought. He felt it too. 

"I thought that was my job." 

Seiji rolled his eyes. 

"Get your ass down here." 

Drew jumped down into the small room. At least it was kind of well lit. Seiji held out his wrists for him. He ripped the bindings off off. 

"What'd they give you that you couldn't get out of this on your own?" 

"I intend to find out." 

"Come on lets get you to a hospital." 

He put his arm around Seiji who was swaying slightly, and stated to lift them back up through the ceiling. 

"No." 

"Huh?" 

"No hospital just yet. We have to do something else first." 

"And what might that be?" 

"He has her." 

"Who has who?" OK, now he was lost. 

"McCartey's killer. He has Sara Pezzini." 

"I'm not even going to ask how you know about that." 

"He's the one who took me. He's been looking to 'help' her for sometime." 

"Do you know where?" 

"Somewhere around here, but I don't know how close or how far." 

Why did trouble follow them around like this? He figured, somewhere, someone must have a rule book for people like them. He wouldn't mind getting his hands on a copy. 

"Can you fight, if you have to?" 

"I'm not concerned with that, if we do end up in that situation you can handle it. I'm more worried that I might not be able to help anyone should they be critically injured. Go that way." He motioned down the corridor. 

Drew recognized the tone he spoke in. Seiji knew more than he was letting on. 

"What did you see?" 

"It doesn't matter. So far nothing has followed any of my visions." 

"You worried for McCartey or Pezzini? Tell me where to turn, man." 

"Her. Where's Iceani?" 

"Some one called her. The old fashioned way. She's with McCartey." 

"I thought so. I can't pick up direct thoughts yet, but . . . it's strange. Stop here." 

"She's coming?" 

"Yes. . . we need to find a place to go up. And we need to hurry." 

"There was a ladder a few feet back." 

"He's found her." 

* * * * 

"Go away!" 

Sara had been determined not to run. She had run in her dream, and she was trying to do everything to make sure reality didn't pan out like it had. But after what had seemed like an hour or so of walking, she realized that she wasn't alone. She had tried to act like he wasn't there, but the feeling . . . he was smiling. She hated that. 

She began to run and ahd broken into a full sprint a few moments after. 

But unlike in her dream, she had yet to run into a friendly face. And no matter how hard she tried to lose him, he still kept coming. 

It was like something out of one of those Jason movies. All that was missing was the background music. And a hockey mask. 

She turned a corner and halted. It was a dead end. Some kind of gratified maintenance room. It looked like it had been set up. For her. She had gone exactly where he wanted her to. She hated feeling helpless. 

"The walls are pretty, aren't they?" 

She spun around to see William Mollard blacking her only way out of this hell hole. 

"This will be the prefect place for your picture, Lady Detective, don't you think? I spent a lot of time looking for the right place. Some one like you deserves something more special than the others. 

"What if I don't want a picture?" 

"It doesn't matter what you want. You're needed in the better place more than you are in this world. It's time for you to move on." 

"I don't want to move on! I'm happy here! Don't you realize what you've been doing to people?! You've caused nothing but pain and grief!" 

"You don't understand. And it doesn't matter. You'll learn later on. When you're there you won't care anymore about here anymore. And you'll see that the Partner and everyone like him is unworthy of you and your kind." 

"Leave Jake alone." 

He shook his head. 

"I can't. He's a bad person for being what he is. And bad people don't deserve to live. But don't worry too much. I've decided to make sure he goes quick because you like him." 

"It's not your choice!" 

He smiled. 

"Yes it is." 

He began to walk towards her. That accursed song that always accompanied her visions of Him started up inside her head. It grew louder and louder until she had to clamp her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to block out the noise. 

"Don't make me hurt you!" 

"How? You don't have your toy anymore." 

"I could take care of myself before, I can do it again!" 

He shrugged. Something about him reminded her of a five-year-old. As soon as he got with in her reach, Sara lunged out and punched him. It had enough force to knock him to the floor. 

She made a break for it, but he was faster. He reached out and grabbed her ankle and she fell on the hard concrete. The breath was knocked out of her and she gasped for air. The song grew in volume. It was disorienting. She couldn't concentrate. 

"Don't try to run away. The other's tried to run too. But they didn't understand." 

Sara kicked him with her other foot and sprang up off the floor. She needed to find some kind of weapon. He was up again. He grabbed her shirt and slammed her into the wall. He pulled a knife from his belt. Sara took advantage of his divided attention and punched him again. She followed through with another kick. He grabbed her leg and pulled her to the floor. How could she get out of this? She used her other leg to sweep his feet out from under him and kicked him in the groin. She got to her feet and ran back out into the tunnel and went back the way she came. He yelled at her from the room. 

"Don't worry, Lady Detective! I'll still help you!" He called out. 

He was crazy! She had to find a way out. She had to get away from the noise. She tried to think, it was so hard. If he wanted some one to eventually find her she had to be close to the surface. It didn't take as long for her to get back to what looked like her starting point, but all these things looked the same. She just had to go further. She wanted to yell for help, but she decided it wasn't the best idea. She turned a corner and ran into someone. She fell on the ground, and hoped it would be a friendly face when she looked up. 

It wasn't. 

It was him. 

How did . . . how did he get ahead of her. Then she remembered Jake's words: not really human. 

Mollard pulled her off the floor by her hair and forced her to look him in the face. 

"You shouldn't run from people who try to do good things, it's not nice." 

"Just leave me alone, please." 

"Can't. Don't worry. It'll be the prettiest picture any one has ever seen. 

The song stopped. 

Silence. 

There was a sharp pain in her abdomen and something warm began to spread across her stomach. She didn't need to look to know what it was. He pulled up and the pain increased. He smiled down at her. 

No. It couldn't end like this. 

Something made him look over his shoulder. 

"Oh, someone's here. Don't worry, I'll come back." 

He let her fall to the floor and he walked around the corner. She lay there with her hand on her stomach. Slightly thankful that the noise was gone, and she wondering what would happen next. 

* * * * 

The sun had risen. 

It hadn't taken much to get them past the clean up barriers. All he had to do was flash his badge, and they were let through. She had taken them into the subway from there. Jake had asked Iceani exactly how she knew where to go. She wasn't able to explain it. 'I just know' was all she had told him. He left it alone. 

He shivered again. Something was going to happen, or something already had. 

"Jake, what's down there?" She pointed to stairs across from them. 

"They lead to the maintenance tunnels under the rail system." 

"Do you have the bracelet with you?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

She didn't answer him. He hated when she did that. She descended the stairs and began to speak. 

"I take it these are used fairly often." 

"Yeah." 

"Seiji's down here. Why wouldn't they have found him?" 

"There are more tunnels underneath these that aren't used much if at all." 

They came to a tee. 

"Well, which way?" 

"Let me see the Witchblade. Maybe if this thing likes her enough it'll do something." 

He reached into his jacket pocket and handed her the molded silver. It was still glowing like it was before. 

"Melissa? What makes you think she's down here-" 

"There is fear and joy down here." She mumbled. What did that mean? 

She began to walk of towards the right. She might as well have been jogging. He didn't know if he could keep up with her if she went into a full out run. They walked forever. 

Jeez, these things were long, and they all looked the same. She stopped and he ran into her. 

"Pay attention." 

"I was." Just not to you, he added silently. 

"Did you hear that?" 

"No, what was it?" 

"It sounded like . . . I think it was people. I'm not sure." 

"We shou-" 

The stone on the Witchblade began to do something different. He didn't know how to describe it. 

"Arm yourself, Detective." 

She ran off in the direction she they had been walking. He took off in the direction she had gone. Something had gone wrong. It wasn't right. 

He heard his name from a ways up ahead. Thank god he keep himself in shape. It didn't take him long to reach Iceani. She was fast, but then she wasn't exactly normal. When he got to her he was out of breath. 

"What?" He saw whom she was kneeling next to. 

No. 

"She almost made it out to the surface." 

"Is . . . is she-" Please. 

"She's alive for now. I put the Blade back on her. I don't know if it'll do anything." 

He got down on his knees next to her. There was so much blood. 

"Do something." 

"Excuse me." 

"Do something!" 

"Like what, Jake?" 

"Anything!" 

"I'm a killer not a healer. I never was." 

"You can do something!" 

"Yeah, I can finish her off!" 

He narrowed his eyes at her. 

"I didn't mean it like that, Jake." 

"I know." He put his hand over her wound. "What did you do to me?" 

"That was very different than this is, Jake." 

"No it isn't. You kept me alive for four days." 

She didn't say anything. That was never a good sign. 

"Say something." 

"That's what you were told. Not by me, I might add." 

"She's not dead yet!" 

Once again she didn't have a response. 

"Please, Melissa, she's - she's not gone yet." 

" . . . you were." 

"What?" 

"I just had to make sure you didn't thaw." 

It was his turn to be silent. 

"I guess we'll yell at each other later. Cover your ears; I'm going to yell. If Drew is anywhere in here, he'll hear me." 

He did as she asked, and she covered Sara's. He could have sworn that the walls shook. 

"I'd go, but he might come back." 

Jake nodded his head, and pulled Sara's head into his lap. Please hold on. 

They waited in silence. 

* * * * 

"You mean to tell me that a _girl_ beat him up?" 

"She and her friends are anything but normal, Captain. If you value the lives of your men, I suggest that you pull them out now." Nottingham replied and hung up the phone. 

He had returned to the Vorshlage building after an alarm had been tripped. He was surprised at the state of his employer's office. He had found Irons in the rest room cleaning the blood off of his already healed neck. A side effect from his brief exposure to the Blade. 

Irons went on to explain what has transpired. Iceani and Detective McCartey had stopped in for a visit, was how Irons had put it. And he made sure to include the Detective's enthusiasm for his death. It was just another thing that Nottingham could add to his list of things to hate McCartey for that had been steadily growing over many lifetimes. Strangely enough, the feud had started in relation to the girl who had come very close to killing Irons. 

"Tell me, Ian. Which one was McCartey?" 

"History refers to us in numbers. He was the Second even though he was the last to come. I was the Third." 

"Does Iceani know that you are-" 

"Yes, sir." 

"And where do your loyalties lie?" 

"To you. She _did_ kill me once." 

"Interesting. Now, what should be done about them?" 

"I am unable," He grimaced at the word, "to compete with the Yoriden. But it does not mean that they can not be stalled." 

"I believe time is on our side. Besides, all this is now unnecessary." 

"How so, sir?" 

"I believed that the effects of the Witchblade were wearing off. Thanks to our 'Atlanta girl' I have discovered that there is no need. My lack of mental contact with the blade must have been due to Sara's partner. I did not think that his influence on her visions would effect mine. It must have been the Blade itself and not Sara that was blocked. Either way, I no longer need her heart and liver for the ritual. It is not paramount. But it would be good to have them, just in case." 

"What will become of Mollard?" 

"If he lives and is not caught, I shall send him some place else." 

"And what will you tell Dante?" 

"If our Lady survives, he will have to find his own way." 

* * * * 

PAPER TIME IS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :::jumps around in a circle singing 'it's over'::: 

Actually, I have one more to go, but it's not due until the end of the month. 

Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter. I know it's been a while, so I put up part of another story as a peace offering. To the person wrote about wanting the McCartey and Iceani thing fleshed out. You're not alone. That's what "Regression" is about. The thing about her is, she wasn't initially written by me. She was based off of facts about me (name, birth day/place, where she lives) but she's not me. But it makes her kind of easy to write. Unfortunately, the fiction that explains everything about her (it was a long one!) was destroyed when my friend's house flooded. It was done online, too. And it was a while ago, and I don't know where he is now. So, I'm re-vamping her, and fitting a few Witchblade charcters into her history. Which has actually been easy. But at the same time, I don't want to make things a cross over, and I'm doing my best to avoid that here. (I hope I've done a good job.) 

So, if (in "Regression) something just doesn't make sense, email me and I'll explain it on my web site. I still have bits and pieces of her original story to make reference to. 

Remember 10. 


	29. Maligueña

Hello, I'm writing in Atlanta. I'm debating on when I should put this up. For I see only six reviews. Sorry to be so bitchy about it, but damn this thing is long. With this chapter it's over 60,000 words long. That's over 100 type written pages, and I used a smaller font than times new roman. 

Wow, now that I've written that . . . . I did that? cool. 

Speaking of cool, my mom told me my Christmas present the other day. She's taking me to Japan with her when she goes over. I'll be there for the new year and everything!!!! I'm so happy!!!! And I can pay my tuition now that my financial aid has come in. Oh happy day! I can register . . . and pay more money. 

And this is just a wondering: I was re-reading stuff on ff.net and . . . wondertross where are you? I keep on reading the end of ch.3 and my imagination runs wild. And, does anyone know what happened to Esprit Librez, I found chapter 5 of her story a while back, and then there was that other story she put out. I hope she's well. 

Remember 10. :þ :::isn't he cute, my little face dude . . . sorry too much sugar. 

Oh. One more thing. All of you, go and review Calypso's story. It's great, even though it's driving me nuts with all the endings. So go hence and leave your mark or the Review - a - Saurus will be knocking at your door. 

*************************************************************************************************************************   
XIX. Maligueña 

"Damn it! Does she have to yell so fucking loud?!!" 

Drew Newell held his hands over his ears, both of which were ringing. She _knew_ his senses were enhanced, even more than the others. It's bad enough that this place smelled. And it hurt like hell when some one managed to land a good punch. 

"It doesn't help that this places ECHOES!!!!!! Owwww!" 

Great now he had done it to himself. 

"Drew. Quit whining and lets go. She's not far." 

He whimpered and resumed his flight. It could have been one of those stupid dog whistles. Those were really bad. Nails on a chalkboard were one of the worst. But her "call" had let them know where she was, but since they had been reunited, Seiji had improved. 

They always worked better together than they did apart. 

"Drew, stop." 

"What for?" 

"Put me down." 

He set him on his feet. He was confused. 

"Stay here. I'm going to go on." 

"All right, but why?" 

"For some reason, He doesn't know we're down here-" 

"Is He coming? I find it hard to believe that he didn't hear that." 

"I think he might not have been down here, it's difficult to read him. If Iceani is here, she brought McCartey with her. He might not be able to 'feel' us, but He'll know that Jake is with Sara. He doesn't care for the 'Negations', is what he calls them." 

"Mel's the same way." 

"I know." 

"What do you want me to do, stand here and clock him if he pops up?" 

"I don't know. All I know is that you need to stay here." 

"You-you see, this is why I'm glad that I'm not you. When you get like this, it makes me feel all creepy." He squirmed to emphasize the last part. 

"We didn't choose to be who we are." 

"I did." 

"Not really." 

"You're doing it again." 

"Just shut up and keep an eye out." 

"Wouldn't that hurt?" 

"Not as much as I'll hurt you if you don't cut that out!" 

"There, my revenge is complete. Now go and leave me here to get pillaged. Oh, and tell your girl. She owes me for the ear thing." 

Seiji ran off down the tunnel without answering him. He was antsy. He hated waiting and he was no where near is patient as Seiji. But then, he didn't really have to be. He didn't have Seiji's mental abilities to deal with. Oh, he had some. They were no more than a sympathetic echo of his 'brother's'. But it was enough. Drew shut his eyes and cleared his mind. 

"Where art thou?" He whispered. 

There was Seiji. He was one turn away from Iceani. It was always easiest to find them. They put off a lot of energy. Seiji was right, McCartey was with her, and he was pissed. Most of his anger seemed to be directed at her. They were both worried about someone. Did they find Detective Pezzini? He couldn't find her. Well, he knew the other two better. He had problems with strangers. 

There was something . . . something else. Was that what Seiji had been talking about? What had happened to that guy? 

He opened his eyes. Why the hell the Seiji tell him to stay here? He was coming from the opposite direction. He had to- 

A voice in his head told him to stay put. Seiji again. 

"All right. But, if there's trouble, I'm coming." 

The voice professed understanding and then faded from his mind. 

"This is the weirdest winter of my life . . . next to that one with the Jell-O." 

* * * * 

Ooooooooooooo!! The stupid Partner was here!! How did he find out where to come? He hadn't been gone from the subway for that long. 

Sigh. 

It was for the better. That meant that he didn't have to go out and find him once he had finished with the Lady Detective. He had to hurry back if he wanted to make sure her picture turned out right, and he had to get the things that the white-haired man wanted. After he was done with the Partner and that old woman at the church, the white-haired man was going to send him to another city. He was going to Los Angeles, he had never been there before. The only problem was that it would be warmer, and he liked the cold so much. 

The cold was cleaner. 

Crisper. 

Not wet and stuffy like hot was. 

Everything should be cold. 

It would be so much better then. Maybe he could ask the white-haired man to send him someplace cold. 

Ahhhh. here he was. 

What was this? The Partner had found the Lady Detective. He wasn't alone. Who was . . .? 

She lifted her head. Her! 

"You!" 

* * * * 

"When this is over, Melissa, you-we're . . . you're going to tell me every goddamn thing you have conveniently forgotten to mention to me." Jake whispered harshly . 

"I know." 

He held Sara's head in his lap, and one hand added pressure to the wound on her abdomen. How long had it been? 

"I think that the Witchblade's done something." 

He nodded his head. She was still alive. He had prayed to any god that would listen to help her. Maybe one of them had answered. 

"Please, hold on." 

He had argued with Iceani on moving Sara. She wanted to wait for Seiji, he wanted to get her to a hospital. Her main point had been that moving her might injure her further. Then he had said something that he had regretted. Some stupid crack that ran along the lines of a major insult to what she had done to save him five years ago. It was the first time Jake had seen any form of hurt on her face. He valued, a great deal, what she did. 

He wanted to know why. 

He wanted this to end. 

"What's the point?" 

"To what?" 

"This." 

"I've already told you." 

"You answered why. But what's the why to why?" 

"If you want to know that you should have majored in philosophy." 

"No clue, huh?" 

"Not really. Drew thinks that this is some big cosmic gag reel, but then he'll eat peanut butter and Dorito sandwiches." 

"They're not _that_ bad." 

". . . you frighten me." 

"I don't think levity is going to work this time." 

"Me neither." 

They lapsed into silence again. He couldn't take this. It hurt too much. He shouldn't have told Sara he loved her; that was a good as making sure something bad would happen. She had seemed happy enough, but kind of sad at the same time. He warned her he had bad timing. It had just come out. He checked her pulse again. 

"I'm sorry." 

"So am I." 

The space between his shoulder blades burned. 

"Melissa." He muttered. 

"I know." 

She looked over his shoulder and her eyes narrowed. 

"You!" 

"What?!" 

"I shouldn't have let you go." She muttered. 

"You know him?!" 

Jake drew his gun from his holster and flipped off the safety. Mollard wasn't going to get any closer. 

"You shouldn't be here Atlanta girl. I just want to help the Lady Detective, and to teach the Partner a lesson." 

"You won't come anywhere near her!" He took aim. 

"Jake-" 

"Jake . . . my uncle's name was Jake. But he wasn't special, he had to go." 

"Don't come any closer. I will fire." 

"It doesn't matter . . .Jake. Paul tried to shoot me. It didn't work. Don't worry, I told her I'd make it quick for you. 

Iceani stood, "Mollard right?" 

"Who?" 

"It's your name." 

"Names are for people who aren't important." 

"Whatever. Do you remember me?" 

"You hurt me." 

She smiled. 

"I'm going to do it again." 

"I'm stronger now. You won't stop me from helping people. The Lady Detective will go to be with the others, and the Partner won't leave this place." 

She raised her palm towards him. Jake's eyes widened. 

"Melissa, be careful. You could cave the whole place in." 

Mollard backed up. She stepped around Jake to follow him. He turned and ran. 

"Seiji will be here shortly." 

She took off after him. 

He turned his attention back to Sara. Her breathing was more regular now. Thank you. He brought her hand with the Witchblade up to his lips and kissed the large red stone. 

Anything to keep it happy. 

* * * * 

Bruno Dante downed another shot of tequila and requested another hit. Might as well get shit faced now, it looked like his day might not turn out as good as he had initially thought. 

"Fucking bitch." Me mumbled. 

"I don't get it Bruno. What could a few kids and McCartey do to screw it up?" Orlinsky had joined him. 

"One of those kids took out his man with one hit. And that other one . . . really tore him and his place up. McCartey just stood there and watched, too." 

"What are you going to do about him?" 

"Nothing. The kid's going to be useful one day, but he has to get past this hard-on he has for Pezzini." 

"I think there's something between those two. They act like Miller and Fracker did ten years ago; you know - trying to act normal. But the look gives it away." 

"I've watched them. It's one sided." 

"Still. It might be a way to get him away from her, and without a partner-" 

"Wait until the nights over. If she's dead it won't matter. Hey, pal, another one!" 

His glass was re-filled. 

"Jerry, this can't get fucked up. I want her dead! A corpse! Worm food! And all those other euphemisms!" 

"I know, bro. It'll happen. It's only a matter of time." 

"Waiting blows." 

* * * * 

Seiji found Detective McCartey alone with Sara. He was cradling her in his arms. It reminded him of a father and a child he had found in one of the 'wars' he had fought in. They hadn't been able to save many. At least they had been together. 

The sound of his footsteps alerted the blonde. In a very quick moment, Seiji had a gun pointed at him. Jake let out a relieved breath and dropped his arm. 

Then he noticed the blood, and the Witchblade giving off a soft pulsing glow. 

"Seiji-" 

"Where'd she go?" 

"After Mollard. He came back." 

"Drew's waiting further on behind me." 

"But they went the other way." 

"He's where he needs to be." 

He looked down the passage then back to Jake and Sara. He raised an eyebrow, her ex-partner was standing watch over them. He vaguely wondered if Sara was aware of him. 

"Seiji." 

He got down on his knees and looked her over. 

"Do you have any idea of how long she was down before you got here." 

He shook his head 'no'. 

"He didn't do as much damage as he probably wanted to do." 

"We think we interrupted him." 

"It may be in part to the Blade." 

"But she wasn't wearing it until Iceani out it back on her." 

"Just because it wasn't in contact with her doesn't mean she can't use it. With us, any 'power' that we have is ours. But there are objects that make it more accessible, less taxing to use. A way to channel it. That's what our armor is, but we are progressing beyond it. In some cases it is a hindrance. It may be possible for a wielder as well. One day, it may become nothing more than a piece of jewelry to her. It also helps that it likes her. It's been healing her." 

"How can you tell all that?" 

"I learned it shortly after I met you. It doesn't take much now. You were a challenge at the time." 

"So I hear." 

"Oh." He knew. "It wasn't her decision to no tell you." 

Jake nodded his head to show Seiji that he understood. "Can you help her?" 

"To a point. I'm still screwed up from whatever he had me on." 

"Anything?" 

"I can't do anything if you don't let her go." 

"Oh." 

Jake carefully put her down and watched. Seiji placed his hand on her stomach. There was an odd sinking feeling in the room followed by a quick flash of bright light. Seiji picked up a faint thought from his friend. He had expected something a bit grander. He almost wanted to laugh. 

He took his hand away, and her eyes fluttered open. 

"you . . ." she spoke in a horse voice. 

"Go to sleep." Her eyes shut. 

"What happ-" 

"I put her to sleep. I've repaired the internal. The outside is going to have to take care of itself." 

"Thank you." 

"I have you know that I have been saving pretty much all my energy in case I had to do that. Pretty pathetic, huh?" 

"No. It's not." 

"Compared to my normal state, it is. I have never been this week . . . I can't remember if I ever have." 

Jake had gathered Sara up in his arms again. Seiji became very aware of how tired he was. 

"You don't look too good." 

"I need the longest shower in the history of humankind, I haven't eaten in nearly a month and a half, my armor has been sustaining me, and I think I'm going through withdrawal. I think I feel like I look." 

Jake handed Sara over to him. 

"What are you-" 

"Take her. Get yourselves out of here and to a hospital." 

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" 

He checked his gun. 

"That might not do much to stop him." 

"I don't intend to, Melissa is taking care of that. I . . . I'm worried she'll kill him." He paused. "Strange, earlier I asked her to kill some one, and she told me that I didn't want to take that path." 

"It's not exactly fun." 

"Now the one person I want to see dead even more than Kenneth Irons, I want to keep alive." 

"Well, why do you?" 

"I want to see him tried." 

"He might get off with insanity, you know that." 

"But, he'll never be out in the world again. If he's locked up, studied, or dissected. He'll be out of the way." 

"And what of Irons." 

"Him . . . I want him humiliated. Dethroned, so to speak." 

Seiji nodded his head. "Be careful. Watch your back." 

"I'll do my best." 

"Be safe." 

Seiji stood up and watched Jake go in the direction that Mollard had gone. He looked over at Danny. 

"Lead the way." 

"My pleasure." 

He followed the specter to the staircase that led to the subway platform. 

*************************************************************************************************************** 

I hope you noticed that Sara's getting off kind of easy. I tried to write something more . . . dramatic, but it just wouldn't come. Or maybe I'm judging myself to harshly. 


	30. Ten

Hello all. 

Here, have a Thanksgiving present in the form of chapter 30. It shouldn't be long before this story comes to an end. But don't worry. There's more coming. I thought that I would finish out the whole series, and then start on an unrelated fiction. New start, clean slate, sumthin new. 

Oh, and, I know I've spelled McCartey/McCarty different in Dreams than my other stories. I didn't notice it until I watched the credits, and by then it would have been a pain to go back and fix everything, but I will. When Dreams is done, I have taken note of all the little spelling and name mistakes. I will fix them 

I had put up the two parts of _Regression_ as a peace offering for not posting for Dreams regularly anymore. But if you all want to see hide or tail of part three, which is really long and I'm not done with that part yet, go and review the thing. You're the ones who asked for it. 

* * * * 

XXX. Ten 

It wasn't that hard to find out where they had gone. All Jake McCartey had to do was follow the path of blood on the ground. Some one had gotten a really good hit in. He was mildly surprised that they were still going, but neither Mollard nor Iceani was exactly normal. 

What was he thinking? 

He should have gone with Seiji and Sara back to the surface. The others could hold their own. 

But he wanted Mollard alive, and given the chance Melissa would kill him. Jake physically couldn't stop either of them, he was sure of that. But on his end Melissa listened to him for some strange reason. He might as well use it to his advantage. 

Something on the floor glinted in the faint glow of the dim lights. He knelt down next to it. Looked like a serrated hunting knife. Whoever had gotten stabbed had pulled the blade out and threw it on the ground. It didn't answer the question of who had been injured. It wasn't a weapon the belonged to the Iceani armor so it was Mollard's. But she could have taken it from him. 

He left it where it was. It could be evidence later on. 

"Where'd you go?" He spoke to no one in particular. 

His question was answered when the tunnel wall next to him exploded out ward. He needed to stop getting his answers like this. It wasn't healthy. 

When the dust settled he saw Drew Newell standing on the other side of the hole. The sound of shuffling behind Jake made him turn around. 

Jake aimed his gun. "William Mollard. You are under arrest." 

The man started to laugh. 

"This isn't funny." Drew spoke behind him. 

He continued to laugh. Yeah, he'd get the insanity plea. 

"Where's Melissa?" Jake spoke over his shoulder. 

"Um, that's kind of my fault there. I distracted her and he got in a lucky hit. Right in the heart too. She's out. If it's not too bad she could be up and around in a few hours. Not in any kind of shape to fight but . . ." 

Mollard wouldn't shut-up. 

"What's so damn funny?!" Jake yelled. 

"You, him, the Atlanta girl, your Lady Detective. It's all funny." He managed to speak through his laughter. 

Drew shrugged. 

"You have the right to remain silent." Jake continued on with the Miranda Rights. Mollard kept on laughing. 

He stopped. 

"The Atlanta girl can't die. He," he pointed to Drew, "He can't either. The world won't let them. But you . . . Jake, you are another matter all together." 

"Yeah. It happens." 

Drew moved to partially block Jake from Mollard. 

"I'll still go through you." He growled at Drew. 

"It'll be hell." 

Mollard smiled and got to his feet. 

"Don't you understand? I have to help them, and part of helping them means getting rid of people like him and the Atlanta girl." 

"You got off real lucky with her. She would have killed you, I won't. But it doesn't mean I won't hurt you." 

Jake watched the two stare each other down. There was a faint smell of ozone in the air. How did that-? 

Mollard raised his hand and the world went white. 

* * * * 

Seiji left Sara with the paramedics. He had snuck off in the confusion when the rain began to fall. He on the other hand, welcomed the water. It did a little to help him feel a bit cleaner. 

He would have loved nothing more than to stay with them and finally relax. But it was out of the question. He had to go back down there. Something had happened. 

He jumped down the stairs to the maintenance tunnel and backtracked the way that Woo had led him out. It was a good thing that he had a photographic memory. But, then all telepaths did. Here was the place Sara had been. The dark stain on the ground marked where she had nearly bleed to death. 

A large crash made his next choice of direction easy. 

Seiji ran off in the direction that McCartey had gone earlier. 

More blood on the ground. 

"Where did that come from?" 

He didn't touch the knife when he found it. He took a side tunnel. It looks like Jake had missed the smaller trail to the side of the knife. He didn't have to go far to find her. He lifted Iceani off of the ground. Where her shirt had once been pale blue, it was mainly covered in red. Mollard had managed to get in a hit. To her heart. Not that she wouldn't get better. But it didn't mean that she couldn't be taken out of commission for any great length of time. 

He would still worry. 

Seiji hated to do it, but he had to go. He set her back down where she had been and folded up her jacket to make a makeshift pillow and placed it under her head. 

He went back to where the knife was and went the only other way that he hadn't been. 

"Smoke?" 

He broke out into a full run. It was tiring but he forced his body to comply with his wishes. He could rest later. 

Seiji skidded to a halt at the sight before him. Most of the tunnel had caved in. Drew wouldn't have done this. But where were they? He climbed over the rubble. He could see where one person had pushed his way out of the concrete. A chunk of stone rolled down the side of the pile followed by another. He started to move the pieces out of the way and encountered a hand. He took the hand and pulled. After some struggle the disheveled form of Drew Newell appeared. 

"Thanks." 

He watched him discard the smoldering remains of his leather jacket and sat back. 

"What happened here?" 

"Well, Willy's learned a few new tricks. Whatever he did hurt like hell too." 

"Where's McCartey?" 

"Down there." He pointed further down the corridor. "I threw him out of the way. I hope I didn't do it too hard." 

"Mollard's gone. I saw where he climbed out." 

"Gotta find him, man. He wants Jake dead." 

"I know. Speaking of dead-" 

"Yeah, I know. 'Cani. My bad." 

"What?" 

"I'll explain later. Help me up." 

Seiji lent Drew a hand and pulled him to his feet. He rubbed his head. 

"You all right?" 

"I think I got hit on the head." 

"Really. I thought that all that concrete managed to miss your head some how. You were only buried under it." 

He rolled his eyes at Seiji and started down the way he had thrown Jake. 

"I barely got my hands on him before the little flashy thing Willy did hit. I think he might have gotten singed. That thing was hot." He paused for a moment and nodded his head, "There he is." 

Seiji couldn't quite see anything yet. I few more feet and he could make out the form of a body lying face down. 

"Drew, we are never coming back to this state if we can possibly avoid it." Seiji said as he squatted own to make sure there had been no major damage done to the unconscious Detective. 

"I like New York. It's only when you show up that bad shit happens." 

"Whatever . . . there doesn't seem to be anything broken. He has a few bruises, probably from when he hit the ground." 

"Can you wake him up?" 

"Don't have to." 

Jake groaned and pushed himself up with his arms. 

"Have a nice flight?" Drew joked. 

"I've had better." Jake mumbled. 

"It's not for everyone." 

Jake moved himself into a sitting position and ran his hands through his hair. 

"Drew." 

"Seiji." 

"Do you know where Melissa is?" 

"Yeah, I put her there after she pulled the knife out of her chest. I don't think it was the best idea. There was a whole lot less blood before she did that, and the thing was serrated too. I have no idea how she did it." 

"What?! Is she all right?!" Jake interrupted. 

"She'll be fine once she comes back." Drew replied. 

"Anyway, go back. Take her to topside. It's raining so you shouldn't run into the paramedics. They might be looking for me." 

"I know it's raining. I got mad. That happens when I get pissed. As for the other thing, no. If anything we all go and I come back. Right now I'm the only one who hasn't nearly bleed to death or been hunted down by Willy. The few scrapes I do have are already healed up." 

Seiji shook his head. 

"You _will_ go. I think I can handle him but I need Jake for bait." 

"Hey! I'm sitting right here! How about consulting me on the whole bait thing." Jake protested. 

Drew glared at Seiji, but he could never win at that game. 

"Alright. I'll take 'Cani back to our hotel room. Then I come right back. And you know I'm fast, I'll do it." 

"Thanks." 

"Back in ten." 

Drew lifted himself into the air and went back to retrieve their friend. 

"Not that I don't appreciate it, but I wish he hadn't thrown me so hard." 

"You're alive, Jake. You could be charbroiled and buried under what could very well be a ton of concrete." 

He nodded his head. 

"Bait?" 

"He wants to kill you." 

"What happened to putting too much energy into fixing me once to let me get hurt again?" 

"Nothing will . . . I think." 

Jake gave him a rather pained look and sighed. 

"Let's get it over with." 

* * * * 

William Mollard pried another piece of rock from under his skin. It dropped to the floor with the others he had to cut out. He didn't expect it to have done that much damage. And that boy had thrown the Partner out of the way at the last second. 

They were both still alive. 

He could feel it. 

But he couldn't feel the Atlanta girl any more. He had gotten lucky when her friend came in a distracted her. 

And the Lady Detective was still in this world. It would be harder to get to her now. She had been moved away from here. He pulled a piece of glass out of his shoulder. There. That was all of them. He watched as the smaller cuts began to close. It would take longer for the others. 

The people back where he used to be had done many things to him, and now he was the better for it. And it was all because of the white-haired man. He owed him a great deal. He owed it to him to finish his job: to help the Lady Detective and Kill the Partner, and to go on to help the rest of the world while he was still living. 

He chuckled. The Partner . . . Jake, had tried to arrest him. He knew better than to think he could just take him. 

He put his knife back into his boot and pushed himself off the ledge he had been sitting on. The small stones and glass crunched underneath his feet when he walked out of the small side room. It was time to go back. The Partner was alone down here. The other boy had left. 

He smiled. 

He would have to break his promise to the Lady Detective. 

The Partner would have to go slowly. 

He was a troublemaker as well as a Negation. All the more reason to rid the world of him. Mollard moved silently through the tunnels under the subway. His feet didn't really touch the ground. The white-haired man had told him how to move things just by thinking about it. He cold only manage to pick himself up a little under an inch. But he was getting better. Everything about him was better than most people. 

He passed by the place where he had fought the Atlanta girl. His other knife was here. He picked it up and examined it. The blood was drying on the blade and the hilt. He wondered how it was that even though he had killed her she would still come back. He wondered how it was that he knew. 

He stuck the knife in his belt and continued on down past the cave in and to where the boy had thrown the Partner. No one was here. But he could feel him. There was something wrong. 

A small click made him do an about face and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. 

There he was. 

"Still trying to bring me in . . . Jake." 

"You should stick with calling me the Partner, dude. My name just sounds wrong coming out of your trap." 

"All the more reason to say it . . . Jake." 

He took a step forward and the Partner took a step back. He didn't want to play this game. 

"You know . . . Jake. If you had just let things be, you would have died quickly. But you've only made things worse for yourself. It will be," He smiled, "very painful." 

"Whatever." 

He took another step forward and the Partner sent a warning shot over his shoulder. It grazed his ear, too. So, he was a good shot. 

"I don't have to miss next time, Mollard." 

"True. Do you think it will do much damage?" 

"I think it would do enough." 

"What if you're wrong? You don't have your friends here anymore. You won't leave this place alive." 

"Yes I will." 

The Partner turned and ran. He was fast. Must have done track in high school. Mollard started after him. He had a feeling that the Partner knew that he could tell where he was. It looks like he had been wrong about it, or the Partner was an idiot. 

He entered the room that he had planned to make the Lady Detective's picture in. It would be funny that he would die here, where she had been. 

And there he was with his back against the spray painted wall still pointing his gun at him. He sighed. At least he would have a good time later. 

The Partner smirked. 

"Wha-" 

Some one slammed his clenched fist where his neck met his shoulders. It wasn't intended to do much damage, but as a show of strength. When the hit landed he fest something crack in his neck followed by pain. Something had been damaged. 

Mollard turned his upper body to meet pale violet eyes under blonde eyebrows. He knew him, didn't he? Yes, he did. 

"Seiji?" 

"Yes." 

He had forgotten about him? How the hell did that happen? 

"I don't know how it happened, William. I'm not you." 

This wasn't good. He remembered something about Seiji being very strong. And he was friends with the Partner! 

"Seiji-" 

"Hold on Jake." 

He sprang to his feet to run out of the room, but ended up connecting with that other boy's punch. Seiji stopped him from flying across the floor. When did that kid get back? He had just left! He could try something. He narrowed his eyes and concentrated. The other boy's mind wasn't as strong as Seiji; maybe he could do his work for him. 

"Um, Seiji." 

"What Jake?" 

The Partner pointed to the boy. 

The boy was clutching his head in pain. Instead of trying to stop him like he had hoped. Seiji reached over with his free hand and knocked his friend out. He wasn't expecting that. 

"Read him his rights, Jake." 

Jake flew through the rights. Was Seiji going to hold on to the entire time? 

"I hate to do this, William. But I don't see any other way aside from a lobotomy." 

There was a short string of pain through his mind and he passed out. When he woke up he had been loaded into the back of a police cruiser. 

He couldn't feel anything anymore. 

Not like he used to. 

He - he couldn't remember how do any of the things the white-haired man had taught him either. 

Seiji. 

He had made him forget. 

He had taken away his mental abilities. 

He looked out the window and met the Partner's eyes. 

He had lost. 

The car drove off and took him away. 

* * * * 

"What did you do to him, Seiji?" 

"I made him forget a few things. I literally burned out the portions of his minds that had been altered. That's it for him." 

"He's human again?" 

"No. Once you're changed, there's practically no chance of going back." 

Drew sat between them holding an ice pack to his forehead. 

"Did you have to hit me so damn hard, Seiji?!" 

"Yeah." 

"Okay." 

Jake shook his head and laughed. Drew did have that in common with his predecessor. They both were jokers. The smile left his face when he saw Dante making his way over to where he was. 

"Oh great." 

He saw Seiji glaring at him from the corner of his eye. 

"What is it?" He whispered. 

"He's Irons' middle man. He was on this, McCartey." 

He swallowed the curse that had come to his lips so that Dante wouldn't hear it. 

"I knew he was in with Irons, but-" 

"If you need anything." 

"Thanks." 

"McCartey!" Dante yelled. 

Seiji sat down next to Drew. 

"Yes sir." 

"What the hell went one here?! You were no longer on this case! You had no right to be here!" 

"I had every right! My partner was down here! We look out for each other, that's why we're paired up in to teams!" 

"Even though you got the guy, and I am proud of your for it. This little act of defiance will go down in your record." 

"I don't care, sir." 

Dante nodded. 

"Get yourself cleaned up, you look like shit." 

He left to deal with the press. Lubin passed Jake and mumbled something about Dante being shit. 

"You're right in that one, Lubin." 

"I purposely make crappy coffee just to see the look on his face." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta go do the wrist work on this. Thanks for the help." 

"Anytime." 

Jake sat down on the trunk of the police car next to Seiji. He did need to get cleaned up. Then find out which hospital Sara had been sent to. It was time for all of them to get some rest. 

******************************************************************************************************************** 

Remember 10. 

Two more chapters to go. 

Go read _Regression_. 


	31. Terminus

Um, yeah. The whole dialogue thing. Writing conversation for more than two people is one of my little problem points. Another reason why I don't use all the "he said she said" stuff is that, I hate reading that over and over an over and over and over and over and over and over . . . you get the idea. And after a while I end up exhausting my thesaurus for other words to use. 

I'm better at indicating whose speaking by what the character says. I once had this assignment where we had to write a dialogue between four or five made up characters, it could be about anything BUT we weren't allowed to use any words like "blahblahblah." Bubba said. Not even in the form plays are written (Bubba: "......."). I passed the thing with a 99, but that was a long time ago and I've been playing around with it again. 

Sorry. I'll try to be better about it. 

One more thing. The next part to _Regression_ is done. All 7700 some odd words of it. All 44.6 KB of it. I appreciate the feedback, for the few of you who have given it, but could you do it _there_ and not in the Dreams review section. Not trying to be picky, or bitchy. Just trying to keep things neat in my little corner of the internet :::shameless misuse of portion of quote::: But, yeah. I'll put it up when people, especially the ones who asked for it (but then I didn't recognize any of the address or names they signed so I don't think they be the reviewing type) say something about it. 

Now, go and review. My story, Calypso's story, everything you read. 

Feed the review - a - saurus. :::mmmmmmm human::::: 

PS. I haven't slept in two days and aside from left overs have been living on caffeine and sugar. Sorry if I end up freaking people out. I'll stop now. 

******************************************************************************************************************** 

XXXI. Terminus 

"Wakey wakey." 

"Shut up." An obviously tired grumble came from under the crisp white hospital sheets. 

"Awww come on, Sara. It's you friendly neighborhood Ghost." 

"I'd rather you be Spider-Man. He's cuter. Now go away. I'm reveling in the pain killers." 

"Oh, your no fun." 

"Go scare some little kid, Danny." 

She just wanted to sleep. 

"I've already been to the children's ward. They were watching some giant purple thing sing badly on the television. I can't compete with that." 

"Barney?" 

"Newt Gingrich." 

Sara pulled the sheet off of her head and gave him a bewildered look. 

"Really?" 

Danny rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. If it weren't for the fact that he wasn't tactile . . . wait. The pillow wasn't alive. Maybe . . . no. She wouldn't throw it at him. She didn't want to wake up Jake. She had woken up to find him sleeping with his head on her bed and the Witchblade back on her wrist. He would have a kink in his neck when he did wake up. He looked like he had been tossed around a bit. There a few bandages on his arms and a already fading bruise on that one spot on his head that every one just loved to hit. 

"They got Mollard, Sara." 

"I figured, Danny. I wonder how. I didn't do much. I don't know what the whole experience was for. Hell, I don't know if was even supposed to learn anything from this." 

"But you did learn something." 

"Care to enlighten me?" 

"How about you tell me." 

She sighed. 

"I need to rely on others?" 

"That could be part of it." 

"Then why all the freaky dreams?" 

"I can't tell you that." 

"Well if you won't, then I'll ask Seiji." 

"Way to bend the rules, Pez." 

"You love me for it." 

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. She looked out the window. The rain had turned to snow. Was some of this weather from that kid? Was it even possible? 

"Ask him, Pez. Maybe you'll learn something." 

"I intend to." 

She turned her head back to where Danny had been standing. Gone again. Maybe Seiji could tell her how to put a bell on him. 

* * * * 

Bruno Dante sat at his desk and seethed. 

"Slut." He said to the room. 

Everything. Every single fucking thing had gone wrong in the end. Don't get him wrong. He_ was _proud of McCartey. He didn't think he would be able to get any where near that far. But he would have to work on the kid again. Dante had pissed him off. He could be a little scary when he was mad. 

That kid. The other one that glared at him the entire time. He wasn't right. There was something . . . Dante shivered. He didn't get a good look at the the third one. 

When Pezzini came back on the job he would have to do be nice to her for a while. The very thought made him want to hurl. But he would think of something. He'd get her. 

He always got what he wanted. 

One way or another. 

He laughed. 

"What's so funny?" 

"Huh?" 

He spun his chair around to face the front of the office. It was that kid that had been in the precinct to report his friend missing. How did . . . wait. He was the third one with McCartey. 

"How did you get in here?!" 

The kid smirked. 

"I asked you a question, kid. Answer it?" 

He shook his head. Dante started to stand up, but the boy was already across the room. He pushed him back down in his seat. 

"Don't get up." 

"Listen, punk! I don't know who you think you are-" 

"I know who you are, Bruno." His tone was dangerous. He tried to stare the kid down, but there was something in his eyes that made Dante stay put. It took his mind a few seconds to process the information and give him a name to the look. 

Malice. 

Well, he could be tough too. 

"Really? Well then, who am I?" 

"Nothing." 

"Nothing? That's all you can come up with is: nothing?" He joked. The hand on his shoulder pushed him further down into his chair. His bones creaked with the added pressure. The kid was strong. He let go and began to walk around the office. 

"Yeah. Nothing. Worthless. So insecure about his dick he takes it out an everyone else." 

Dante seethed. 

"Fuck you asshole!" 

"Ohhh. I'm scared. What are you gonna do, shoot me?" 

Dante stood and drew his weapon. He went to pull the trigger, but it wasn't there. He blinked at his empty hand for a moment then looked up to find it in the kid's possession. He held up the gun and crushed it in his hand. 

What was this kid on? 

"I'm not on anything, Bruno." 

"What do you want?" 

"You. Feed to the lions. But the thing is, I'm not a killer. I have in battle, but it was never intentional. I know that one day, being what I am, it will happen. But never like you, Bruno." 

"You admitting to murder kid?" 

"Are you? You hurt my family, you prick. My 'sister' is dead. My 'brother' is injured. You tried to kill a new friend. And were willing to risk an old one! Tell me a reason to not break every bone in your body." 

"Well, kid. You said you're not like me. Would you leave me alive?" 

"Yeah. I don't want you dead, Bruno." He kept on saying his name with same stupid tone. it was getting annoying. 

"I'd want me dead." 

"I'd leave you alive. Your body would heal. But I know the human body, Bruno. I want you to live to be the oldest human on record. Paralyzed from the neck down. So you can watch the whole world pass you by." 

"How sweet." Dante drawled. 

Then the kid did something. He growled. Not a human one, but more like a giant cat. And if you would have asked Bruno Dante what he thought, he'd swear on his life that the kid's canines looked a bit sharper than normal. It was just his mind, but it was enough to scare five years off his life. 

"Pathetic human." He spat. 

"You're one too, kid." 

"Off all of us, I am the least human, genetically." 

Who's 'us'? 

"What are you here to do, huh? Do it or leave!" 

"Okay." 

A snap followed by fire. Dante cried out in pain. The little shit broke his arm! 

"Fuck!" 

"Don't look so surprised, I told you I was going to do it." He chided. 

The fuck was laughing at him. He reached from his ankle holster with his good arm. He never made it. The kid grabbed him and pulled him out the window. Everything was blurred for a while. He felt like he was being pulled up to somewhere. The rush finally stopped. 

"Look down, Bruno." 

He knew he shouldn't do it, but he did. 

"Holy fuck!" 

There was the city of New York. From the vantage of a high flying plane. The air was too thin. It was so hard to breathe. Why wasn't the kid having problems? How did . . . how did the boy do this? 

The kid smirked again. Not like before. This one made him look downright evil. 

For the first time in a long while, Bruno Dante was truly afraid. 

"N-n-n-no. Do-don't!" It was so hard to speak. 

The kid smiled. 

And let go. 

Dante screamed. 

He had been sky diving before. But that was a bit different. He remembered that stupid joke about the man praying to the different gods to help him when he fell. It didn't work very well. 

Something caught him. 

The kid again. 

"You scream like a little girl, Bruno." 

"Pl-pl-please." 

"Please what?" 

"What are you?" 

"Me? What are you? Give me the right answer and I'll put you back in your office." 

Dante looked into the others eyes again. He was enjoying this? He couldn't tell. God, he felt so small right now. Had his mother been alive, he'd crawl back home. But that's what the kid wanted, wasn't it? 

Humiliation. 

Dante had never felt humility before now. 

"I-I-I" 

"Come on, you can say it." The boy spoke to him like he was some baby learning how to speak. 

"Nothing." 

"Good boy. You _can_ tell the truth." 

He stayed good to his word. In moments Dante had been dropped back in his office. In a rather undignified heap on the floor. 

"You asked me what I was, Dante. You answered me, I'll answer you. I am many things to many people. Respect. The Storm. But to you, I'm the person who broke you. Even if it was just a little bit . . . I could have done more. " 

When he looked up the boy was gone. It had been real though. He needed to go to the hospital to get his arm set. But, he had to think of what to say. To the doctors and to the guys. He couldn't . . . he couldn't . . . His shoulders began to shake. 

Bruno Dante huddled himself on the floor of his office and sobbed. 

* * * * 

There was so much blood. It really wasn't that much liquid in the human body, but it always seemed like more when it was spilt. Ian Nottingham mused over the still form of Iceani. Some one had placed her in the bathtub of her hotel room some time ago. The only injury he could find was an extremely deep and jagged cut directly into her upper chest. Her heart. 

There had been a great deal of blood when she had killed him all those lifetimes ago. He had the privilege of being the only person she had ever tortured to death. She had finished him by breaking his neck, but she had put so much force into it that his head had almost . . . Ian rubbed his neck. She hadn't been in the best frame of mind those last few years, or the following two centuries for that matter. 

He checked her pulse again. 

Still nothing. 

He wondered how long it would take for her to come back. Sometimes it took minutes, once it had taken a year. 

Irons had instructed him to asses the . . . status of all those involved. 

He had been shocked at Sirous' actions. The teen was dangerous. Deadly. But he reigned himself in. Instead choosing humor and reason over the violence that was inherent to his armor. But he had let that other side of him show through to Captain Dante. Only a small amount, but it had been enough to do what he intended. Privately, Ian thought Dante deserved everything that was coming to him. But he would never admit it aloud. 

Sara was awake and doing well. With the Blade back in her possession her recovery had speed up. Her partner's most serious injury was a mild concussion. Anything else had been an assortment of scrapes, bruises, and burns. 

He had laughed at the doctors treating Seiji. They couldn't figure out what to do with the boy. He would be out later tomorrow. He had only been admitted this morning after William Mollard had been taken away. Ian hadn't stayed long to observe Halo. Minute after he had arrived, Seiji had turned his head and looked strait at him. It was slightly unnerving 

Mollard himself was in lock-up in a detention facility. Irons had decided not to try and help him gain his freedom. He felt it would lead to too many uncomfortable questions. 

Last he had come here. Iceani had been the only one unaccounted for. He had not expected to find her in this state. Mollard must have bested her or gotten lucky. Normally, Ian didn't believe in luck. But on some occasions it was an acceptable reason. 

The door unlocked. He grimaced when he recognized the person. 

"Hello Detective McCartey." 

He jumped at the sound of his name. 

"Nottingham. What are you doing here?" 

"Why are you not by Sara's side?" 

"The nurses kicked me out. Visiting hours. Now why are you here?" His posture was ridged. Good he had made him uncomfortable. 

"The same reason you are, I suspect." 

"Really?" 

"To see how she is. And curiosity." 

"Curiosity?" 

"I only wish to know her reasons for a rather painful action that occurred between us sometime ago." 

"Look her up. She's listed." 

"I see. I am done here. Enjoy your stay, but I am afraid that she is not much for conversation at the moment." 

"Get out." 

"You really don't like me, do you Detective?" 

"At first I tried not to hold much against you. But after what your employer did . . . you always claim to live to protect Sara. Where were you this time?" 

"But Lady Sara is still alive and well." 

"No thanks to you." 

"So you hate me only for this. I am loyal to the man who gave me life, Detective." 

He stepped around Jake and opened the door to the hall. 

"There's something else, isn't there Nottingham?" 

He looked back. 

"There has always been something else." 

The door shut. 

* * * * 

Date Seiji sat with Sara Pezzini in her hospital room. He had told her what had transpired after she had been . . . incapacitated. 

"I wish they hadn't made Jake go." 

"Well, the nurse was scary. I think I'd rather go back to being chained up then to deal with her." 

"I think she's really a man." 

He laughed at her statement. Too bad it might be true. 

"He needed to get cleaned up, and we needed some one to check on Melissa." 

"Where's Drew?" 

"Off where he can't do any harm." 

"What?" 

"He had a 'visit' with your Captain. The brief encounter with Mollard had him riled up, and going to confront Dante may not have been the best idea he's ever had. Sirous, by nature, is very violent. Halo keeps the rage in check and it does the same the other way. We'll take him off some where and let him duke it out with one of us." 

"A thirst for fighting." 

"Sort of. More of an urge to do the most damage possible. He lost his temper once . . . it is not an experience one would like to repeat." 

She nodded her head in understanding. 

"I have a question for you. Danny told me to ask." 

"I hopefully have an answer. If not, I assuredly know some one who can." 

"What was the point?" 

"The point of what?" 

"The dreams? What happened with Mollard? Everything." 

"With Mollard was partially set up, and any lesson to be learned from that would be fairly simple, I think." 

"Basic rules of combat?" She raised and eyebrow. 

"Did you follow them?" 

"I tried." 

"And you are alive. So they work." 

"What about the others?" 

"You would have had the dreams in time. They were never meant to be in such rapid succession. Kenneth Irons small hold on the Witchblade allowed him to speed up the natural course of things. My guess was to make you come to him for help when you had reached the end of your rope. Then he could take whatever he wanted from you." 

"So all this was for what? Nothing? Just so some power hungry asshole could-" She stopped herself. 

"Sometimes that's all anything is. Irons will get his due one day. I have a feeling you'll be there to laugh at him when he does." 

"I would enjoy that, Seiji." 

"But you got a lover out of his meddling." 

"That's the only part I don't mind. How do you know all this stuff?" 

"Honestly, I learned it from you." 

* * * * 

Jake had almost gone home first to clean himself up, but decided that it would be too tempting to crawl into bed. He had turned around and come here and had found Ian Nottingham. 

He had been blocking Jake's view of the bathroom. It wasn't until he left that he had noticed the blood on the floor and the streaks down the side of the bath tub. Even though she had only been injured in one place, it had been a huge cut. Being moved had made the blood run, and she looked like she had been victim of a multiple stabbing from the patterns that had been created. He had felt something similar to what he had when he found Sara. On the whole, Iceani looked miles worse than Sara did at the moment. That had been a contributing factor. He hated to see his friends hurt. He knew she'd wake up sooner or later, but it didn't stop him from thinking 'oh lord, she's gone'. 

The wound had closed completely. A faint white line marked the location. It would probably disappear in a week or so. 

After staring at her for what seemed like forever he had sat down and held her hand. If he couldn't be with Sara, he'd be here. Stupid nurse-type-thing. She had threatened to drop kick him out the door. He had a feeling . . . it might have been able to do it. 

He leaned his had against the wall and tried to make some sense of the past few days. All it gave him was a headache, so he settled for doing his best to think about nothing and sending an occasional glance over the side of the tub. 

She had begun breathing again an hour ago. It was more regular now. Jake took in the his surroundings. It was going to be hell to get all this up. 

It was over. 

At least this one was over. There would undoubtedly be others in the future. It was the way of things. At least he knew that other people had even more fucked up lives that he did. 

The fingers on the hand he was holding moved. Finally. He got on his knees and leaned over. She was awake. 

"Are you all right?" 

She looked around her and didn't answer him. Did she hear him?" 

"Where am I?" 

She sounded terrible. 

"You're in your hotel room. Drew brought you here." 

He reached down and helped her get into an upright position. She didn't seem to be able to do it herself. 

"I had forgotten how much this hurts." 

"Getting stabbed?" 

"Coming back." 

"Oh." He didn't think he'd ever understand that one. "I'm sorry." 

"I-I need to clean myself off." 

"I'll be outside if you need anything." 

She nodded and Jake left her. He wondered how that whole thing worked. Certain things happen when you die. There must be something to keep those factors at bay, or to reverse them. 

"There can be only one." He murmured under his breath. He laughed a little at his joke. 

He looked down at himself. Well, his shirt was officially ruined. The water began to run. That was a good idea. He turned on the sink with this elbow and began to wash her blood of his hands and arms. Would Drew mind if he stole a shirt? Probably not, and Jake had no problem taking one. He'd pay him back later. He bundled up his shirt and threw it in the trash can. Too bad, he and that shirt had been through a lot together. Mainly cartoon marathons, but those were memorable moments. Just between him, Space Ghost, and a can of beer. 

Jake found a plain gray tee shirt and pulled it over his head. He looked at the bathroom door. They needed to talk. If she was up for it. She had promised him that she'd tell him what went on in Japan. There were other things. One of them was what was up with that whole name thing yesterday. The other was the way too frequent feelings of deja vu. 

He put her bag by the door and knocked. 

"Your things are right outside the door. Melissa." 

There was no answer. He didn't expect one with how she had sounded earlier. 

The sun was setting outside. This day would be over soon. The quicker the better. He was definitely asking for time off sometime soon. The water stopped. 

Jake jumped when the phone rang. Damn thing. He picked up the receiver. 

"Yeah." 

"Jake, it's Seiji." 

"How you doing?" 

"Better than most." 

"Melissa's back. I think she's getting out of the shower." 

"All right. That's all I needed to know. I should go before that nurse come and finds me in the wrong room." 

"Se ya." 

"Later." 

He hung up. He smiled. Seiji was freaked about that nurse too. There was always some little thing to make people laugh, wasn't there? 

"Who was that?" 

Jake turned around. He hadn't heard her even open the door. She was using the wall to support herself. 

"Seiji. Wanted ot know how you were." 

"Oh." 

He walked over to help her, but she just crawled into the bed nearest to her and curled up. 

"How long will you be like this?" 

"I don't know." Was the muffled response. Cute. 

"Do you want me to stay or go, Melissa?" 

"I doesn't matter. I just need to rest." 

He nodded his head and sat down to rest against the bed. He was so tired. Might as well stay here. 

"Sleep well." He didn't get an answer. She was already asleep. 

That sounded like a good idea. 

* * * * 

Kenneth Irons listened to Nottingham deliver his report. All seemed well. He had been amused about Captain Dante's situation. And more interested in Iceani's. Well, he had his own little brand of immortality. He would have to wait until a later date to make sure that it would always be in place, but now it was in no danger. 

"So the little play is over." 

"It would seem so, sir." 

"Too bad. It was quite entertaining." 

"Indeed." 

"So, Ian, what do you make of all this?" 

"Of what, sir?" 

"Life, I suppose." 

"It is not always what we make it." 

"How true. It is what others make it." 

"It would seem so." 

"And our Lady Sara lives. You were right from the beginning, Ian, all this was unnecessary. But it was interesting, nonetheless." 

"What now, sir?" 

Irons smiled. Yes: what now? He poured himself a drink. Next. It was always such a pressing word. It gave things a feeling of quickness, in his opinion. Detective Pezzini would be nearly unreachable at his point, and in the future. He had no doubts that the young Mr. Date knew of his . . . involvement. He would put money on that Halo had told her every accursed thing he knew. 

"The next thing, Ian. Will be to work ourselves back into Lady Sara's relatively good graces." 

"Is that even possible? She has a new outlet for information, in the form of a power that neither of us can oppose." 

"There is always a way, Ian." 

No one ever said it had to be her choice. 

* * * * 

"Jake! If you don't cut it out I'm going to scream! I'm not made of glass!" 

Sara watched Jake flinch when he yelled at him. Maybe she had over done it. But, she couldn't take it anymore. Ever since he had brought her home, which miraculously had heat again -she knew he had gotten it turned back on, it was sweet-, he had handled her like she would break at any moment. Her wounds had completely healed, in part to a little help from the Witchblade and from a friend. Aside from the phantom pain, she was fine. 

"Jake, I'm sorry. I jus-" 

"I get it. I get it. I can't help it." 

"Thanks for the heat by the way." 

He shrugged and ducked his head. 

"I couldn't let my girl come home to an ice cube." 

He blushed! He blushed about getting the heat turned back on? 

"Awwwww. Are you embarrassed?" 

"Pez." He groaned. 

"But it was so cute." 

"I'm not cute. Cute is for little animals." 

"Then what are you?" 

"Hot." 

She laughed, "Really? Says who?" 

"Well, you seemed to think so a few nights ago." He smirked. 

"A few nights ago . . . it feels like forever." 

Jake sat down on her couch next to her. 

"Sara-" 

"I have no idea what I was thinking going off by myself. After everything that I knew could have happened." 

"Maybe he made you do it, who knows? But your here now. It's over." 

He sounded so finite about the whole thing. Over. Cut it and file it. She didn't know how he did it, always managing to think that way. She leaned against him, maybe that part of him would rub off. But she'd settle for a hug, as ridiculous as that sounded in her mind, and he did just that. 

"How's everyone else?" 

"Well, you saw Dante's broken arm right?" 

"Yeah. Seiji told me what Drew did." 

"I thought it was funny as hell." He laughed. "He kept on looking over his shoulder all day, like some scared little kid running home after dark. You know: the boogie man is going to get him." Jake finished in a stupid voice. 

Sara had to admit, even though she had only seen Dante for a few moments, that it had made her afternoon. 

"Lets see, what else? I stayed with Melissa until she woke up again. Whatever happens to her in that whole process must be one hell of a thirst killer, I swear she drank something like five gallons of water after she got back up." 

"Did you talk to her about what you needed to?" 

"Yeah. But there was something she kept on avoiding. I'll tell you about it later." 

"Maybe she wasn't allowed to talk about whatever it was." 

"Maybe. Seiji came in later. The first thing she did was slap him, before she kissed him." 

"She slapped him, why?" 

"For causing trouble." 

"I thought that trouble was supposed to follow them." 

"Yeah, but whenever he's in New York something bad happens. She forbade him to came back here unless it was the Apocalypse. Knowing them it's scheduled for next week. I don't know what's up with Drew, he's just out somewhere. And I could care less about Irons and Nottingham." 

He wasn't alone in that department. Irons, however, would be up to no good. As long as whatever he was planning happened _after_ her vacation she could deal with it. 

Right now they had three weeks leave, with pay she might add. And as soon as she told Jake that he wasn't leaving her apartment until time was up, she could start enjoying herself. 

****************************************************************************************************************   
Now go and review, and remember what I said about my other story up top. Go and review that too or it will stay unfinished. 

An epilogue will follow. 

Then, that'll be it for this story. 


	32. Epilogue

  
Well, I guess _Regression_ will have to stay the way it is. By the way, the story is done . . . but the last two chapters are on my magical little disk and it doesn't look like the next part will be making it to the internet anytime soon. You know what you have to do. I on the other hand, have a day to sit back and read all the stories that I haven't had time to. So I'm going to review myself out, but I'll be writing something. Even if it's the "good job, jeep it coming" type deal. 

I went back and fixed the McCarty/McCartey thing. They are all spelled the same way, with the "e". I fixed the spelling errors that I found. If some one out there finds more, email me and I'll fix it. 

Here be the Epilogue. 

*********************************************************************************************************************************** 

XXXII. Epilogue 

Sara Pezzini and Jake McCartey pushed their way through the throng of television reporters outside the court house. Earlier this morning the Judge had handed down the sentence. 

William Mollard was found guilty on several counts of murder in the first degree and conspiracy to murder. However his mental state would keep him out of prison. Instead, he would spend the rest of his life in a maximum security hospital. 

He would never see the outside world again. 

And that was just fine. 

Sara ducked into the passenger side of the blue car. Jake got behind the wheel and locked all the doors. 

"Thank god. I can't stand the press." Sara spoke and let her head fall against the head rest. 

"You get used to it after a while." Jake started the engine and began to drive away from the court house. 

"I haven't. I don't think I ever will." 

"Yeah, well-" He cut himself off. 

"What?" 

"What the hell are they doing here?" 

Sara looked out the window to see who Jake was speaking of. There on the curb stood Ian Nottingham leaning against a black luxury car with Kenneth Irons in the back seat. 

"I don't know, Jake. I don't care either." 

"Let's just get out of here." He turned the corner headed back to his place. 

"Are you happy?" 

"With what?" 

"The ruling, Jake?" 

"He's out of the way isn't he?" 

"I guess so. You don't think they'll ever let him out?" 

"I think they'll be having too much fun trying to figure out how his head works." 

She shook her head at his response. He'd been in a bad mood all week. Amazingly, he hadn't let it show through on the stand. That was one hell of an off/on switch. 

"Are you okay, Jake?" 

"I'm fine." 

"Liar." 

"I said I'm fine, Sara." 

"All right. I was just worried is all. There's no need to get all uppity about it." 

"Uppity?" 

"What about it?" 

"I haven't heard that one before." 

"Never?" 

He shook his head "no." 

"Well, why are you so . . . temperamental this week? You've been normal up to this point." 

Jake didn't answer her for the longest time. When he finally did she didn't understand him. 

"I've forgotten something." 

"Forgotten something . . . about the case?!" 

"No. About me." 

* * * * 

So this was where he was going to live now. It was all right. It was all white. It was all bright. He giggled at his little rhyme he had made up. Rhymes were so fun. They kept it cold here. That was good. 

Sometimes people would come and talk to him about strange things. They always asked him what had made him do it. He wondered what they meant and he told them so. Do what? Kill people, they said. He tried to explain to them that they weren't dead. All the people he had helped were in a better place, that they were alive there. 

But the people didn't understand. 

Seiji had been right. 

No one understood. 

Only he and the white-haired man did. 

He had called him again. The white-haired man told him that he needed to help people this way now. By making the normal people understand, so that they could go out and help people like he had. The white-haired man was so smart. It was such a good idea, but it was hard work. The white-haired man had told him as much. He said that it might take the rest of his life to do it. 

But he understood. 

He had to help the special ones in this new way now. 

William Mollard at on his cot and swung his legs back and forth. He couldn't move his arms in the funny jacket they had given him, but that was okay. 

He began to hum his favorite song, and smiled for the people looking at him through the window on his door. 

* * * * 

Why was the damn airport so crowded? Jake McCartey pushed his way through the multitude of human bodies in the terminal. They had let him through after he flashed his badge even though he didn't have a ticket. Thank god. There was that stupid gate. 

He looked around for the person he was looking for. This was where her flight was leaving from. 

There she was. He put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up to she who it was. 

"Jake, what are you doing here?" 

"I need to talk to you. Melissa." 

"Sorry to be rude, but you have to hurry they're about to board my flight." 

"Who am I?" 

"Huh?" 

"You heard me. What made me different from all the other people you could have saved in Japan?" 

"Does it really matter? The point is that I did." 

"Stop circling around the answer. I want to hear you say it!" 

"Say what, Jake? Are you feeling all right?" 

"I . . . I don't know." He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. 

"Listen to me," she spoke quietly, "and pay attention because I am going to get in more trouble than you can imagine for say this." 

He met her eyes and nodded his head. 

"You haven't forgotten anything, Jake. Everything we ever experience is recorded away in our minds. Recalling the facts in question is the difficult part. Sometimes we push them, consciously or unconsciously, so deep into our own minds that we may never be able to recall them. But some people do. It comes in flashes, moments of clarity, and in dreams. There are instances where it is forbidden to tell someone or to help them recall those memories because no human is supposed to have knowledge of past lives, unless they remember it on their own." 

Oh. 

"That's it then . . . I know you?" 

"Yes." 

"How long?" 

"A very long time." 

"You said you'd get-" 

She held up her hand to stop him. 

"I can take whatever is dished out to me. I have been for four centuries." 

The final boarding call came over the intercom. 

"I have to go, Jake. We sent the others home, and it's time for me to go too." 

"You'll keep in touch?" 

"Of course" 

She boarded the plane, and he watched it taxi from the gate. 

* * * * 

His arm itched under the plaster of the cast. 

"Damn it." Bruno Dante swore under his breath. at least the kid could have broken his right arm. That would have gotten him out of paper work since he was right handed, but he had broken his left arm. 

Nearly everyone had signed it. Even Pezzini. And her signature was right where he couldn't avoid looking at it. She had to have done it on purpose. 

Bitch. 

He was being relatively nice ot her, though. He didn't know where that kid was, and he was scared out of his mind. 

He didn't want to think about it right now. 

* * * * 

"That's quite a story, Chief?" 

"Tell me about it." Sara spoke to the younger man sitting in the booth across from her. 

"See, I leave town and you get into all kinds of trouble. Next time I'll leave you with a chaperone." 

"I don't need a chaperone, Gabriel." She griped. 

"Yes you do." He took a bite of his pizza. "So where's your significant other?" He spoke around a mouthful of food. 

"At the airport." 

"Wanted to see his friend off, huh?" 

"Something like that." 

"Do you care if I grill McCartey about them, I would have killed to meet one of those guys." Another bite. 

"People did get killed, Gabriel." 

"You know what I meant Sara." 

"You'd probably try to get one of them to give you one of their weapons to sell." 

"Do you know how much that would go for? . . . Think they'd let me?" 

Sara laughed and rolled her eyes at him. "No!" 

"I get it, you're tying to cut in on my action." He joked. 

"Perhaps." 

"No more problems with the whole vision slash dream thing anymore." 

"No, but then I haven't had that much time alone when I'm asleep to know for sure." She smiled. 

"Way to much information. Young person present." 

She laughed again whole she watched his face turn red from embarrassment. 

It was turing out to be a good day.   
  
  



End file.
